Illini 'tired of losing'

Ask Loren Tate how to fix the Illini women here.

CHAMPAIGN – These days, answers are hard to come by for the Illinois women's basketball team.

Take, for instance, the team's psyche. Is it still intact? Battered beyond repair? Hanging by a thread?

"I'm at a loss for words for how our (mental) state is," senior Jenna Smith said Sunday in a near-whisper after the Illini dropped a 67-54 decision against Indiana at the Assembly Hall. "I mean, everybody feels something different. Everybody's tired of losing."

Losing has become a way of life for the Illini since mid-January. Illinois (12-11, 4-9 Big Ten) has dropped 7 of 8, including three straight at home. The Illini remain in sole possession of last place, a spot they haven't owned at season's end since 1995, when they shared it with Michigan.

The prospects of digging out aren't bright. The remaining schedule includes three road games and a home date against surging Purdue.

"This is it for us," senior Lacey Simpson said. "Every senior wants to go out on a big bang, but I'm not going to get down on this (team) because we've still got a few games left and we've still got the tournament. On Tuesday, all I can do is come in ready to go. There's no use in being negative. That's not going to help you at the end of the day."

That's probably the hardest part for a team that had high expectations but has hit the skids in a big way. On Sunday, the Illini suffered from dreadful offense, shooting a season-low 27 percent and making 23 turnovers. Indiana's zone pushed the Illini to the perimeter and they attempted 28 three-pointers, sinking seven.

On average, Illinois takes 12 threes a game.

"The game plan that Indiana had was to force us to beat them from the outside," coach Jolette Law said. "There were times they had four people on Jenna. We had good looks, we just didn't knock the shots down. We started relying on our three-point shooting. We're not a three-point shooting team."

Dysfunctional offense has been a staple. Illinois is last in the Big Ten in scoring offense, and there appeared to be times Sunday when the Illini were pressing to make something happen. The result often was an unforced turnover.

"Indiana at one point wasn't (defending) some of my guards. It was that obvious," Law said. "All we had to do was take one step in and knock down a wide-open shot. It was to the point we started thinking about it and hesitating. Just take the shot. Be confident. We work on it every day."

The lack of aggressiveness on offense was manifested at the foul line. Indiana was 26 of 34 at the line; Illinois was 9 of 11.

"We need to attack," Simpson said. "We always practice attacking off the dribble. Everybody just has to be confident enough to know that they can score. Everybody on this team can score, and once everybody realizes that, that will be the added ingredient we need on offense."

Simpson had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Smith had nine points on 3-of-16 shooting to go with a career-high 20 rebounds and six blocks.

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