by Tom Owens
Daily Illini sports reporter

This is no nursery rhyme, children -- this is real life. The No. 25 Illinois women’s basketball team (2-0) heads to South Bend this weekend to take on "Little Miss" Muffet McGraw and her No. 7 Notre Dame squad (3-0).

The trip to northern Indiana is the start of a six game road trip for the Illini, and it should provide some of the stiffest competition yet. The team hopes to prove once again there is more than corn in Indiana.

Notre Dame has opened its season with a perfect record, including an impressive 84-57 win Saturday against No. 6 Duke and a 99-82 win over then-No. 6 UCLA in their season opener.

As far as looking past Illinois, McGraw doesn’t even sit it as a possibility.

"We’ve really done a good job of taking it one game at a time. We didn’t look at the Duke game as an upset," McGraw said.

The Irish are averaging 84.7 points per game thus far and are out-rebounding opponents by more than 10 boards per game.

"I think both teams are very similar," McGraw said. "Both get great guard play and post play. There should be some exciting matchups."

Like Illinois, Notre Dame plays an aggressive style on the offensive end, with the guards providing the thrust. Senior guard Danielle Green is scoring 22 points per game, and junior guard Niele Ivey is averaging 15 points and seven rebounds a contest.

"They’re very good. Their backcourt is excellent," Illinois head coach Theresa Grentz said. "Ivey has played well, and Green has played extremely well. They have dictated tempo and style, and they have basically dominated the games. It’ll be our job to defend that."

Another key to the Notre Dame attack is center Ruth Riley. The 6-foot-5 sophomore grabbed 18 rebounds and poured in 20 points against UCLA, and she is averaging 14.3 points. Riley is getting close to five blocks per game.

It will be senior Alicia Sheeler’s mission to defend against the dominant Riley. Sheeler is getting accustomed to the up-tempo style of play at Illinois this year, and in the last two games has provided key contributions. On Sunday she scored a season-high 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

"I think that against Stanford, Alicia was outstanding," Grentz said. "She didn’t score a lot, and maybe her statistics weren’t impressive, but the way she moved, posted up and got some key rebounds. She’s more comfortable with these players, and it’s showing up on the floor."

The meeting will be the first time a Grentz squad has played Notre Dame. The coach said she hopes a rivalry will get started between the two teams.

"The biggest thing I learned when I came here is state loyalty," Grentz said. "There’s tremendous rivalry between the states, and I think that Notre Dame and Illinois are like that."

After a big win at Stanford last week, a win that could be called a program builder, Grentz sees every opportunity for her team to make itself better. She has been trying to get Notre Dame on the Illinois schedule for three years.

"We will not shy away from tough competition simply to build a better record," Grentz said. "We’re trying to build a better program, and games like this will help us do that."