Read Tony Bleill's in-game blog

CHAMPAIGN – If it all looks a bit foreign to Illinois women's basketball fans, that's OK. The important thing, at least for Lacey Simpson, is that this prolific offensive style shown off by the Illini these days isn't new to her or many of her teammates.

"It's what I'm used to, that fast tempo," Simpson said Sunday after the Illini beat Siena 85-53 at the Assembly Hall.

Yes, that's 85 points. Eight, five. Ocho cinco, according to one flamboyant Cincinnati Bengals receiver. Ochenta y cinco, according to proper Spanish.

"It's fun when you play that way," Simpson said. "I was joking around in the (pregame) shootaround today, saying, 'I don't plan on passing halfcourt. If I get it – Karisma (Penn) and Jenna (Smith), you guys run. I've got you.' I definitely enjoy it."

That offensive haul arrived two days after Illinois scored 78 in an overtime loss at Temple. For some perspective: In 31 games last season, the Illini never scored more than 66.

A year ago, Illinois shot 37.6 percent, the second-lowest figure in the program's history. Now? The Illini shot 50 percent on Friday and went even further on Sunday, sizzling the nets at 62.5 percent – tying the fourth-best mark in UI history. Had the Illini not missed two shots in the final 20 seconds, it would have been a single-game record.

"That's a great feeling because we're sharing the ball, looking for the open opportunities," Illinois coach Jolette Law said. "We're letting our defense create our offense. Most of our shots were pretty much layups."

True enough. Fifteen of Illinois' 35 field goals were layups and four came from offensive rebounds.

Still, the encouraging signs on offense weren't hard to find. Yes, the Illini have benefited from a turnover-inducing defense – Siena made 34 turnovers – but the shooting has been accurate through two games, and it's a team-wide epidemic. Freshman Karisma Penn (18 points, 8 for 13) did the damage inside along with Jenna Smith (10 points, 10 rebounds), but the outside shooting was solid, too. Freshman guard Adrienne GodBold had 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, sinking both three-point tries.

"If we play the defense we're capable of, I know we're going to be high-octane, high-scoring," Law said.

Illinois? High-scoring? For a team that has struggled so much to break 50, those are words that have been mutually exclusive in recent years.

"It was fun," Simpson said. "I'm used to playing that way. In AAU, we get up and down. I'm happy we're back to that."

There have been hiccups along the way. Take turnovers. The opponents certainly have. Illinois made 28 against Temple and tacked on 21 more against Siena. And the free throw shooting was uncharacteristically lousy on Sunday, the Illini sinking 10 of 24. A year ago, Illinois shot 74 percent as a team.

The foul shooting woes might be temporary. The turnover trouble, given the Illini's youth, might be a trickier problem to solve. In any event, the Illini's faster pace these days could naturally produce a few more offensive mistakes. More possessions overall usually equal more turnovers.

"This is what we're trying to incorporate here," Law said of the new look. "We're trying to set the tone with Illinois basketball. Letting our defense create our offense, and once we get it, we're pushing. We look to be in attack mode. If we have to set up, we will and we'll execute at the halfcourt level. But as much as possible, we want to get out and run."

Illinois played without two freshmen. Guard Amber Moore injured her knee late in Friday's loss and is out indefinitely. Forward Destiny Williams was not was with the team on Sunday because of what Law said was a "coach's decision."