After two embarrassing losses to Big Ten opponents — Penn State and Ohio State — the Michigan women’s basketball team knew it couldn't suffer a third.

But last night, the Wolverines found themselves locked in a struggle with an Illinois squad that has spent much of the season in this conference basement.

And after a sluggish start in the second half, Michigan saw its comfortable nine-point halftime lead begin to dwindle.

“We couldn’t just sit back and say, ‘We’re letting it slip away,’ like we have this season,” sophomore guard Veronica Hicks said. “We needed to make a statement here at home for our own confidence so we can take that with us on the road.”

With two clutch shots from behind the arc in the game’s closing minutes, Hicks took the reins and scored 10 second-half points in Michigan's 52-44 victory.

It was only the second time this season the Wolverines scored less than 60 points and and still managed to come out with a victory.

“We did a great job at rallying when we needed to,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “We made some great shots and played some great defense in the process. It looked like our confidence was finally building.”

That defense has helped to lead Michigan to victories in seven of its last eight games at Crisler Arena.

Despite the success in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines have dropped four consecutive road games. Borseth said it has little to do with playing away from Crisler.

“The other team battles every game,” Borseth said. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to play at home or on the road. There’s no mystique about playing at home. It’s about making things happen.”

Against the Illini (0-5, 4-12), the Wolverines made sure to minimize the impact of junior center Jenna Smith, who averaged 18 points and eight rebounds in her team’s first 12 games. The Wolverines held Smith to two points in the first half and ten points total, one of her lowest outputs of the season.

“They were putting two or three people on Jenna in the post,” Illinois coach Jolette Law said. “They were just daring us to take the outside shot, but we just couldn’t hit those shots.”

The Wolverines coupled their suffocating defense by drawing 14 more fouls than Illinois and earning 21 free throw attempts.

Borseth said drawing those fouls was one of the keys to victory and credited the discrepancy in fouls to his team’s aggressiveness on both sides of the ball.

In addition to the offensive spark from the defensive-minded Hicks, junior center Krista Phillips made a resurgence. Phillips notched more playing time than the Wolverines’ other post presence, senior Stephany Skrba, and Phillips's size in the middle helped Michigan lock down Smith in the paint.

If the Wolverines hope to dictate post play in their next two games against Wisconsin and Michigan State, Phillips's six-and-a-half-foot stature could be essential, especially against All-Big Ten Michigan State center Allyssa DeHaan.

And if the Wolverines hope to silence their road demons this Sunday against Wisconsin, it'll take an aggressiveness from Hicks and the rest of the Michigan squad that the team has previously lacked away from home.