The Illinois women’s basketball team came into the conference season with its best start since 2003 ­— the last time it qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The two seniors on the roster, Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson, seemed poised to qualify for their first time.

“It’s on my mind all the time. I’ve never been there, I’ve never experienced it,” Simpson said. “That’s something me and (Smith) always talk about.”

It’ll take a big finish for the Illini to be dancing in March after they fell to 3-5 in the Big Ten and 11-7 overall with a 74-65 loss to Iowa, which entered the contest in last place in the conference.

Plagued by injury problems on an already young roster, Iowa (9-10, 2-6) came into the Thursday’s game on a four-game slide. But a struggling Illini team, which now has lost three straight, proved to be the right medicine for what ailed them.

“Those (Iowa) kids play hard, with a level of pride. They can have every excuse in America. I applaud them. I give them all the credit in the world. They don’t make those excuses,” Illinois head coach Jolette Law said.

The Hawkeyes continued their dominance at the Assembly Hall, where they’ve won their last six, shooting 51 percent from the field and 9-for-20 from behind the arc.

“When you win at one place, you have better thoughts or focus at that place,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.

After struggling with a hamstring injury during the last two games, Smith looked back in form with 17 first-half points, including two 3-pointers, as the Illini went into the break down 38-37.

But Illinois went cold in the second half. Smith was held to just six points in the final 20 minutes, when the Illini shot just 10-for-37 from the field.

Still, Illinois was within four points with six minutes remaining on a day when it had 20 more shots than its opponent.

But Kamille Wahlin, who shot 4-for-9 from behind the arc on the day, made a 3-pointer that jump-started a 10-3 Iowa run to close out the game.

“I saw my defense not being in a stance, they were standing straight up,” Law said.

“We’ve been working on that, like, every day.”

The Illini now fall into a tie for eighth place in a conference with only one ranked team.

But Simpson hasn’t given up hope for her first and final dance.

“We want to make it this year, and I still think we can,” Simpson said. “We’ve got a lot of season left. We’ve just got to learn from this game and move on to the next one.”

Law, though, is just worried about getting her team in shape to win another Big Ten game.

“My team needs to get it together and decide that we cannot take any team in this league for granted,” she said. “We need to play like our life depends on it. Our motto has been ‘Play until we’re exhausted,’ and I don’t think we’re doing that right now.”