WBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[WLCALUM83]

1/09/07 Projections:

Lakeland over Alverno:
Benedictine over WLC: (Eagles are hot-Warriors need to either shoot a bit better or crash the boards harder than they did out West).
Edgewood over Concordia-Chicago: (Too close to call-if Eagles get in foul trouble, Cougars could pull off mild upset).
Aurora over Dominican:  (Spartans hungry for win after Marian knocked them off on the road).
Marian over Rockford:  (Marian may shock more teams than Aurora yet).
Concordia-WI over Maranatha:  (Falcons are on a good roll, which figures to continue.)

[WLCALUM83]

Took a quick look-in at CUW/Maranatha score:  Falcons are winning big, 70-29 in 2nd half. 

[WLCALUM83]

Lakeland 59, Alverno 42--12 seconds left in game;  (Lakeland outshot Alverno approx. 49% to 29% per box score off Muskie website).

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  Concordia-Chicago 57, Edgewood 54.  (CU-Chicago hit their free throws in the end.)

Edgewood's Kittoe set a record for most 3-pointers by an Eagle in her career--albeit in a losing cause.

[WLCALUM83]

Another final just in:  WLC 68, Benedictine 59. 

Per WLC post-game account--Laete 24 pts. Lindert 10. WLC 21-6 run early in 2nd half put them ahead and then they hit their free-throws.

Next opponent:  Lakeland--on the road.

[WLCALUM83]

MSOE women lose to U of Chicago at home 75-64. Raiders outrebounded 35-19 per box score off U of Chicago website:

Aurora wins big over Dominican, 71-50.

Marian defeats Rockford 69-59. (Rockford's Butler put in 22 minutes of playing time. Marian had 4 players in double figures led by Moody's 23 pts--Rockford site. Look out--Sabers are now 4-2 in conference and given their penchant for creating points off turnovers they may make even more noise yet.

[WLCALUM83]

1/11-13/07 NathCon Projections:

1/11:  Benedictine over Clarke

1/13:  Aurora over Alverno (Spartans figure to get back on track after losing to Marian).
           Concordia-Chicago over Dominican (Cougars' last win gives them a bit of momentum).
           Benedictine over Maranatha (How much can Goff & Lang keep urging the rest of the team??)
           Edgewood over Rockford. (Would be surprised if Eagles lost 2 in a row at home.)
           WLC over Lakeland  (One "X" factor for each side:  Against Alverno, Lakeland Coach Arvan used more of her players than usual, felt she wasn't getting enough out of most of her starters at one point in the first half--has she found some more up-to-now unexpected secret weapons?? WLC's players are going in there with vengeance on their minds, wanting to make up for the 58-20 drubbing they took from the Muskies up there last season. This one's also too close to call.)         
           

[libero]

The 'Saders have no answers inside the paint, except for Goff. They lost their other post player to surgery over Christmas. They have young talent, but will continue to struggle until they shoot well from 3 pt land and the opposing team shoots 40%.

[WLCALUM83]

Is it "Would-be-all Blowout Day" in NathCon today?

Concordia-WI 54, Marian 34, midway thru 2nd.

WLC up  54-37 on Lakeland--10:30 left in 2nd. (Come on, Warriors!).

Edgewood up by 24 on Rockford College in 2nd.

[WLCALUM83]

Finals:  Edgewood 62, Rockford College 39.

            Concordia-WI 72, Marian 40.  (Knew the Falcons were hot, but wasn't expecting that!).

            Concordia-IL 85, Dominican 56.

            Aurora, IL 66, Alverno 44.

            WLC 78, Lakeland 67 (The Muskie hex on the road has been stopped!).
          Per Lakeland stats Warriors' Laete came up big scoring wise in 2nd half (27 pts total), Lindert also came up big  off the bench with 16 points. WLC was 7-15 from 3-pt range and 19-20 from FT line).Muskies hung around, cut the lead to 9 late, but Warriors hit their free throws to seal it.

[WLCALUM83]

One last 1/13/07 final:

Benedictine 85, Maranatha Baptist 70.

[libero]

Is it just me, or are the average scored higher on the women's side this season. It seems like most years in the past, all the scores were 50 something to 40 something. Any people out there who can drop some knowledge?

[WLCALUM83]

Just checked and compared the 05-06 scores and the 06-07 scores of the 4 IL squads that were combined with LMC, and found out that as far as in-conference scoring offense goes, the average was from Benedictine's 74 ppg to Concordia-Chicago's 65 ppg. in 05-06 and so far this season Aurora is tops at 70 ppg while Rockford College has been on the low end at 51 ppg,

In terms of scoring defense for in-conference games, in 05-06, the range was from Rockford College's 62 ppg  allowed to Concordia-Chicago's 71 ppg  allowed. So far this season, all 4 of those teams have been allowing 61-63 ppg.

(CUC's defense improved the most between last year and this year, and Rockford's offensive production dropped significantly, from 67 ppg to 51 ppg).

As far as the LMC teams, scoring offense between 05-06 and 06-07 so far (this is also in-conference) in 05-06 the average was from Concordia's 69 ppg to MBBC's 44 ppg.  So far in 06-07, WLC's been on the high end (71 ppg avg) and Alverno on the low end (41 ppg). (The Inferno's scoring output has dropped 8 points on avg below last season, to this point. Most improved team on offense thus far as far as increased scoring output is--believe it or not a tie between MBBC and WLC--the Crusaders output increased from 44 ppg to 57 ppg so far, while WLC's output went from 58 ppg in 05-06 to 71 ppg this season.

MSOE's avg in 05-06 was 61 ppg, just by looking at their output so far this season, that's dipped some--they've played anyone from UW Stevens Point to Finlandia. (They're cited as an "x" factor).

Scoring defense in 05-06 for LMC teams for in-conference ranged from Lakeland's 44 ppg allowed to Maranatha's 65 ppg allowed. So far in 06-07 the range is Concordia-WI's 48 ppg allowed to Maranantha's 76 ppg allowed .

In short, yes, the average women's scores (for the LMC teams) have been higher this season.

[libero]

So. . .not a huge trend, but definitely higher. I just can't seem to remember many women's games where the losing team scored 70. Thanks for doing the research.

[Illinihoops4]

I don't suppose that has anything to do with the faster pace of play that I've seen Quicker tempo=more possessions. It's a good thing though. Too match up with teams in stronger conferences the NAC is going to have to get stronger.