The Illini endured two tough weeks. A team with high aspirations was coming off of a four-game losing streak. The Illini scheduled a tough preseason to test themselves and highlight parts of their game that needed work. According to the team, they need confidence and emotion to succeed in this Big Ten conference.

Saturday afternoon the Illini fought for their second win of the season and put themselves back on track.

"This gives us the confidence," head coach Theresa Grentz said. "This hasn't been a hump. I just think we haven't played."

The Illini successfully fought through adversity, which had plagued them for the last four closely-contested games.

"I'm really proud of them," Grentz said. "Through it all there has been no whining or complaining. They have just challenged themselves to play better, and this experience will be useful for them in the real world. Not everything comes easy."

Their fight can be seen on the determined expression of the team's Hall of Fame coach, the ferocious attitude that senior Cindy Dallas brings to all aspects of the game, and the bleeding knee of point guard Maggie Acuna. This team has started off slowly but intends to claw its way back to the top.

The Illini come out to the court drawing off each other's energy, chanting "pump it up, go 'head … go 'head" and even though Illinois State was lesser competition than the Illini have become used to, they didn't take them for granted.

"There wasn't a big change in our plan," junior Angelina Williams said. "We have to play every team as if we were playing the best team in America."

In college basketball, two true signs of a team's worth are determined by whether or not they can win on the road and how it responds to losses and adversity.

Although the United Center isn't exactly the road, it could not be considered a home game. Both teams had to rely on their own energy to get through the game.

"We try and feed off each other's energy," Williams said. "We all bring something different to the table, certain players energize the team and we look to them."

And the Illini responded to the adversity they were facing. After a slight altercation in the UC-Santa Barbara game the team responded by pulling even closer together. Throughout the game the entire bench talked to the players on the court to keep positive. Illinois used their toughness to own the paint. The Illini outscored the Redbirds in the paint 54-12 and outrebounded them 57-31.