IWU wins!!!  What a CRAZY game.  Could not believe IWU was down 0-16 when I signed in to webcast.  IWU stayed with it and kept shooting (60).   Dropped a text to J. Solari/Christina about this stuning comeback win.  Doesn't look good for Karen Solari.    Maybe I'll make the trip down Friday.  Hmmm.  

Off topic- I was down at ISU last weekend for Maine South Final Fou run. (Solari gals are Alumni).  Maine South came in third when they BEAT Whitney Young,  the 9th  ranked team in NATION.  Cool!  

Christina Solari (1st yr coach) coached the Maine South Freshmen B team to a 18-2 record, Conference Champs!  (Freshmen A were 18-2 too!)

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on January 25, 2011, 08:10:25 PM

Quote from: Out_Of_My_Kitchen on January 24, 2011, 02:12:09 PM
I wonder if she replicates the same style of play of her college teams?  Could you imagine this team if she would have came back for one more year!

Quote from: jshoops on January 24, 2011, 11:18:28 AM
Long time no post...  We attended the IWU-NPU game Saturday and we sat with the Christina and the rest of the Solari family. 

It was a bit of sloppy game played by both sides.  NPU did not give up and made a couple of runs to get the deficit back to within 5 and 11 in the 2nd half. In the end, NPU clearly did not have the depth to keep up with the bigger IWU team and the outside 3's by IWU. 

On a personal note, my daughter is playing for Maine South HS and the new Freshman-B coach, Christina Solari.  Under Christina, the B-team is at 14-1.

Yeah, and she COULD have done it (she had a legitimate medical red-shirt).  With no disrespect whatsoever to this year's Titans, if you add Christina I'd be willing to bet a fair amount that they would be undefeated and ranked #1!

But then your daughter's team probably wouldn't be 14-1!

Yeah, too bad Christina needed to graduate (LOL). Christina is now in a grad. program.  Hope to see more CCIW/IWU at the North Central, Elmhurst and Wheaton games if time permits (busy with my 2 kids in HS b-ball).

Long time no post...  We attended the IWU-NPU game Saturday and we sat with the Christina and the rest of the Solari family. 

It was a bit of sloppy game played by both sides.  NPU did not give up and made a couple of runs to get the deficit back to within 5 and 11 in the 2nd half. In the end, NPU clearly did not have the depth to keep up with the bigger IWU team and the outside 3's by IWU. 

On a personal note, my daughter is playing for Maine South HS and the new Freshman-B coach, Christina Solari.  Under Christina, the B-team is at 14-1.

We were also at Friday's match of IWU vs DePaul.  The D-1 team was bigger at the forwards/center by 4-6 inches and their guards were quicker to the ball at both ends of the court.  IWU looked a little gased and DePaul was able to deny every pass attempt, both to make the pass or catch the ball.  Even when IWU boxed out and was in position to grab the rebound off of the floor, a 2nd DePaul player was quicker to the ball.  DePaul is a ranked D-1 team and it showed. 

We had the opportunity to talk to the IWU players after the game, they were upbeat and understood this scrimmage will make them better down the stretch.  IWU kept hustling, hitting the floor and showed some heart.  I was  impressed with soph. Karen Solari's mental toughness and play as she took on some of those DePaul giants, drew some fouls and  made some nice passes. 

Anyone headed to the IWU -DePaul exhibition game this (11/6/) Friday's 5:30 game at McGrath Arena?  I would like to see what IWU can do against a D-I team.  Jim 

I've had the pleasure of watching Christina and Karen Solari for the past 6 years.  They are unselfish team players that work hard at their game.   They are terrific people off the court too,  benefitting from their two wonderful parents.  Christina has a 3.81 grade point average  on top of basketball career (Sheehan, Solari Earn Academic All-District Honors).  Simply amazing!

IWU has a great program and it all starts with the coach and that "positive attitude" feeds into the players.  After the UofC game Christina Solari came over to say hi to us and thanked us for coming to watch(we're from Park Ridge).  Coach Smith saw us and took the time to stop and talk to my 7th grade daughter, I came away very impressed with Coach Smith.   

While this team has accomplished alot this season, Coach Smith will keep this team focused on the unfinished business they have in front of them.   Unfortunately my 1/31 calendar is full so now I'm thinking about making the trip down to Olivet on 2/17.  Go Titans!

Well, for 38:42 minutes IWU was behind St. Francis(D-II) and IWU pulled it off.  Nothing too unusual, game totals all within the IWU averages, 4-5 fewer rebounds and Solari picked up 3 fouls in 2 minutes in the first half.  So on the other hand, at the end of 40 minutes,  good teams figure out a way to win regards of the circumstances.

Pantagraph story: IWU women cruise past Loggers in tourney play http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/12/29/usports/doc49584f84a329b319866916.txt

I kept up with the game on LiveStats.  The Loggers tried to keep up for 40 minutes but IWU put their foot down and took control late in 2nd half.

I think I've got the wife talked into going to the game(she's enamored with UofC) with the kids to see IWU/C. Solari suit it up against UofC.   It should be a good game.

How's the parking around the Ratner Center and where is the main entrance to the building? 

Hey, just TWO weeks until IWU plays DePauw on the Big Muddy.  What a crazy first matchup of top 10 rated teams!  I might just see if I can catch a ride down there with a buddy.

Just looking at the 2007-08 minutes/points indicates IWU has a terrific core of 3 players to build around and mentally anchor this team next season.   

Claire and Mallory are seasoned vets and should be able to pick up the scroing slack brought on the the graduation of Bull and Dye.  Christina should also look to score a bit more and teach those sophmores how to rebound like her.  Collen will need to step up her game because there appears to be a number of sophmores who will be pushing her for some minutes.   This team is full of promise, there are 8 players 5-10 and better, a couple in the guard positions too!  That will create some matchup problems that IWU can use to their advantage.

NO. NAME POS. HT. YR.
10 Claire Sheehan G 5-7 Jr. 13.8 pts/ 27.5 mpg
11 Mallory Heydorn # G 5-7 Jr. 13 pts/ 27.1 mpg
53 Christina Solari C 6-0 So. 11 pts/ 24.5 mpg
33 Colleen Caplice C 5-11 Jr. 4 pts/ 12.4 mpg

32 Hope Schulte G 5-10 Fr. 4.4 pts/ 10.3 mpg
21 Nikki Preston G 5-10 Fr. 4.1 pts/ 9.1 mpg
34 Sarah Cotner C 6-1 Fr. 3.3 pts/ 5.9 mpg
52 Stacey Arlis F 5-11 Fr. 2.1 pts/ 5.3 mpg
42 Lia Anderson F 5-11 Fr. 1.7 pts/ 4.6 mpg
20 Holly Harvey G 5-8 Fr. 1.6 pts/ 7.3 mpg
40 Jessica Hinterlong F 5-10 Fr.  0.3 pts/ 4.3 mpg

I think we're all Christina fans here and I've been saying all year, what a come back year she had!  Threee new IWU season records in rebounds, steals, FG%, and led the team in assists, while playing the 5 position.  Wow.

Hi all, first time poster.  I've been reading the blog for about 3 months.  Great commentary and links here!

I'm up in Park Ridge and we're family friends of the Solari's.  I've been following C. Solari for about 5-6 years, she's a terrific person.  Our 7th grade sons are the same age too. 

Tough night for IWU.  I was listening to online radio, it seemed IWU was in a groove early but lost the momenteum with too many missed 3's.   Since they took a ton of 3's, it did not seem that the Titans had much of an inside game.  Was the inside defense of UWW keeping IWU out of the paint?  After Christina's 3rd foul UWW grabbed the game and ran away with the 1st half and  to the eventual win.  It also sounded like we lacked some patience on the offensive sets.

I made it to 3 Chicagoland games and watched/listened online to a couple more of them too.  I have to agree they need to play a few more non-conf./tougher teams.   

I'm a 1982 ISU grad., still hooping it up 2-3 days a week and can still dunk at 48 @ 6'2".  I played for Steve Fisher for a couple of years in Park Forest/ Rich East, where Craig Hodges was a teammate.

Later!  Jim