CHAMPAIGN – Moving into the starting lineup has brought out the best in Illinois freshman Kersten Magrum.

Starting for the fifth straight game, Magrum scored 11 points while playing a career-high 28 minutes in Illinois' rout of Northwestern on Thursday.

"I think the comfort level comes from my teammates," Magrum said. "They push me every day in practice, and since I'm prepared it's easy for me to produce. They made me comfortable in that lineup. When they're doing their job, it makes me look good."

Magrum's midrange jumper has been a spark for the Illini offense. She scored 12 points at Purdue last week on 5-of-9 shooting and is hitting 50 percent since moving into the starting group.

"When they couldn't score (in the second half), she made some big shots," Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said.

Encouraging signs. UI coach Jolette Law said positive vibes have remained despite the Illini's recent slide.

"It's easy to be negative. It's my job to keep them uplifted and motivated and inspired," Law said. "I think this team believes. People have started to count them out, but I don't feel that way in practice, and I didn't feel that way tonight.

"Sometimes when things are down, you can sense it's a losing gym or a losing mentality. There's no talking or communicating. I didn't see that from my team (in practice). It was the opposite. We talked, and I didn't have to tell them what to do. That's the sign of a team that wants to win and isn't quitting."

February frenzy. UI recruit Centrese McGee and her Thornton Fractional North teammates begin postseason play Tuesday. T.F. North, seeded No. 1 in the Class 3A Hillcrest Sectional complex, is likely headed toward a showdown against second-seeded Hillcrest in the sectional final Feb. 25.

Smith, Simpson climb charts. Jenna Smith's eight rebounds pushed her into sixth place on the Big Ten's career list with 1,095, passing Ohio State's Jessica Davenport.

Lacey Simpson had four steals to jump past three players and into sixth place on the Big Ten career chart with 328.

Short shots. Illinois' final regular season game (Feb. 28 at Northwestern) has been moved to 2 p.m. It will not be televised. ... Northwestern's last win against Illinois was Feb. 5, 1999, when the coaches were Theresa Grentz and Don Perrelli. ... McKeown on his next step: "There's no sense dissecting this one. All we can do is move forward and burn the tape."