When guard Ivory Crawford isn’t leading the Illinois women’s basketball team in scoring, which is almost every game, she’s focusing on her creative writing degree and creating art as a hobby.

Some would describe her play on the hardwood as a form of art — especially her defense, which often goes overlooked. Head coach Matt Bollant is one of those believers, but said she still has room to improve on the defensive end.

“Yeah, she’s definitely overlooked. She gets a lot of steals, but she needs to be more disciplined at times,” Bollant said. “She’s really good going after the ball and great at getting steals, but we need her to be more fundamental as well.”

Crawford’s breakthrough came last season, when she was a sophomore. She finished second on the team in steals with 82 on the season, good for 2.5 per game. Prior to that, as a freshman, she averaged just under one steal per game. Now, she leads the team with 55 steals through 26 games.

Ever since she became a takeaway threat on the defensive end, Crawford has improved her defensive abilities in the paint as well.

“I still need a little guidance on my help-side defense,” she said. “But at the same time, I think I’ve improved a lot, especially my rebounding and boxing out and stuff.”

The 5-foot-10 guard also leads the team in total rebounds with 140, but freshman forward Jacqui Grant is ahead of her in boards per game (6.0 to 5.4 per game). But Crawford has also proved to be a threat to deny the shots of her opposition as well, as she has accumulated 20 blocks on the year, second behind Grant’s 33.

Crawford said her defense has improved a lot in the last year, but her improvement since high school is a whole new story. A graduate from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., the Chicago-native said her defense was nonexistent until she reached Champaign. Once she got here, Crawford realized in order to see time on the court in a defense-heavy system, she had to transform herself into an all-around player.

“In high school I didn’t play any defense,” Crawford joked. “Well, I did play defense, but not nearly as hard as I do now. I’m more focused and aware of my surroundings now than I was then.”

With Crawford’s tenacity comes aggression. Anyone who has watched a few of her games this season has probably witnessed Crawford miss vital time due to foul trouble. She has far more fouls than anyone else on the Illini, with 94 on the year (3.6 per game) and six disqualifications due to fouling. Grant has the second most with 76 and also has six foul outs. No one else on the team has more than one foul out.

Crawford’s aggression comes from her love of hockey, a sport that thrives on aggression and high-speed collisions. She said she fell in love with the sport because of her love for ice skating, which she used to do often when she was younger.

“It’s just that toughness, aggression and you get to fight,” she said. “I like that.”

Blake can be reached at [email protected].