Penn State head coach Rene Portland said this is a different Illinois team from years past.
"Illinois is very athletic, very different from teams in the past," Portland said.
"They have great size and are a good rebounding team."
Portland and forward Ashli Schwab both emphasized that the Lady Lions would have to be prepared to play a physical game against an Illinois team whose record stands at 10-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten.
The Illini have defeated a number of quality opponents, including UCLA and Louisiana Tech, so far this season -- but, of their 13 games, only four opponents have been ranked in the top 100 of CollegeRPI.com's rankings.
Nevertheless, Penn State (8-6) is not in a position that allows it to take any opponent lightly.
"Right now, nobody believes in us but ourselves," Portland said. "We still have an uphill battle to prove that we're not pretenders."
In order to control the Illini on defense, Penn State must match up with talented Illinois senior swing players Tiffanie Guthrie and Angelina Williams.
Guthrie is a 5-foot-10 guard who has scored 10 or more points in 11 straight games. Williams leads the Illini in scoring with 18.8 points per game; her 21.0 points per game in Big Ten play is good for best in the conference.
"I do think that we have to be concerned with Williams and Guthrie," Portland said. "I think that it will be a physical game and we need to hold our own and get our fast break going."
No game at this point in the season can legitimately be considered a must-win, but the game against Illinois and Sunday's tilt against Indiana are important for Penn State's psyche.
Next week, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 20 Purdue will visit the Bryce Jordan Center.
For a Penn State team that has been up and down all season long, entering those games with a four-game winning streak certainly wouldn't hurt.
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