WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Sounds about right to me, Greg.  IWU is pretty lackluster so far, not finishing games they could have, should have won . . .  maybe they will get on a run and live up to the potential and aspirations we all had for them.  But, right now, it doesn't look all that promising.   Just too many TOs, bad decisions with the ball, people falling down, driving into traffic and very poor three point shooting %-wise.  Maybe Powers and Palmer will return to form and Coach Smith will find ways to get them better looks, but so far it's not really happening.  Knutson not playing last night was big, with less rebounding talent on the floor.  Huber will have many good games, big output all season, as she's such a great player in the paint for her size.   But, she needs support, a more productive and supportive set of teammates.   I agree that MU and the Pios are the conference leaders now.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Sounds about right to me, Greg.  IWU is pretty lackluster so far, not finishing games they could have, should have won . . .  maybe they will get on a run and live up to the potential and aspirations we all had for them.  But, right now, it doesn't look all that promising.   Just too many TOs, bad decisions with the ball, people falling down, driving into traffic and very poor three point shooting %-wise.  Maybe Powers and Palmer will return to form and Coach Smith will find ways to get them better looks, but so far it's not really happening.  Knutson not playing last night was big, with less rebounding talent on the floor.  Huber will have many good games, big output all season, as she's such a great player in the paint for her size.   But, she needs support, a more productive and supportive set of teammates.   I agree that MU and the Pios are the conference leaders now.

IWU'70

Illinois Wesleyan is a mystery. How did what is essentially the same lineup that was atop the league a year ago become so ordinary?

After the Wheaton game, the frustration in Mia Smith's voice and demeanor was pretty obvious (not that she's the type to hold anything in).  It almost feels like she has lost the team . . pure speculation obviously.  But something's not working.

[Gregory Sager]

After the Wheaton game, the frustration in Mia Smith's voice and demeanor was pretty obvious (not that she's the type to hold anything in).  It almost feels like she has lost the team . . pure speculation obviously.  But something's not working.

For sure. It was patently obvious just how vexed Mia was last night. I think that's she's moved into "throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks" territory.

Good coaches always tend to be just as competitive as players, so I also suspect that it really stuck in her craw that she'd just been beaten by a twentysomething CCIW head coach whose career record against IWU and Mia Smith is now 1-0.

Annie R. wasn't crowing over it. In the postgame interview I suggested that the game was the basketball equivalent of getting a tooth pulled, and she agreed with me.

[iwu70]

I'm pretty sure Mia and the other IWU coaches are pissed and perplexed, just not understanding how things have gotten to this point with the Titans.  A big drop off from Powers (with an injury, it must be said) and Palmer.  And Heller scoring it pretty well, but not really sticking with a team format, and having serious issues with TOs, driving into undue traffic.   Knutson has been a pleasant surprise for the most part, though injured and in civies last night.  The folks off the bench have contributed at points, but are very up and down, inconsistent, esp. Mahlem and Carlson.  Huber by far the most consistent and productive, obviously.   So, it's a strange situation for Mia, not really knowing night to night what to expect.  What has surprised me is how many stupid and bad decisions the Titans have made, with poor situational awareness at key points, in the final minutes of games, esp. for a relatively experienced, though still young team.  As I've said, the freshmen are going to be good, but have been thrown into all this pretty early -- though I'm still, in the long run, optimistic about White, Mahlem, Balli and Galvan . .  just seems that Powers and Palmer should be playing better, or a way found to put them in a better position to get their shots, play better.   I'm sure Mia will do her best to figure it out and put the Titans on a better trajectory now with 11 games to go . . . they badly need a run of better play, better luck, and some mojo these last 7 or so weeks.

I hope Knutson is back soon . . . personally, I'd be starting White and allowing Huber, if she stays out of foul trouble, to play more minutes.  We'll see.  What do I know?

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Millikin 74
Wheaton  55

Not too much of surprise here as Millikin just has too much offensive depth for the Thunder.  But it's hard to overlook Wheaton's self-inflicted damage in the first half when MU led by 16 at the break.  Wheaton 14 turnovers (Big Blue 7) in the first half while giving up 9 offensive rebs to Millkin.  The 3rd Q went Wheaton's way to cut the lead to 6 with only 3 turnovers and better defense and rebounding.  15 more shot attempts for Millikin.

Getting Bailey Coffman back is a huge positive for MU.  She ended up w 15 pts and made some big defensive plays.  Knudsen ended up with 17 pts.

Caroline Sikkink led Wheaton with 10 pts, 7 rebs.

[iwu70]

IWU 79 Carthage 68

IWU finally getting out from under their four game slide . . .  playing a very weak first half, but roaring back in the second to finally play some very good offensive basketball, scoring 53 in the second half.  The future is now with freshman Sawyer White, as I predicted some weeks ago.  Knutson still sitting, with some kind of injury. 

For CC:
Knight, a terrific game, 19
Ester 12
Knebel 12

For IWU:
Huber, an amazing second half, 19 and 6
White 16 and 6, 4-5 from 3
Powers 11
Palmer, making some treys, 11
Heller 13

Still so much to improve on . . . but at least the Titans get back in the winning column, now 8-7, 3-3 in CCIW play.   They need to play like they did in the second half, esp. the 4Q, and get on a run of wins.  Not easy with the Titans playing @MU on Wednesday.  That will be tough, but they need a signature win.

Much better today.  Huber an amazing player in the second half, with rebounding, scoring, assists and steals.   White here to stay . . . a very talented freshman.

Good to see the ball movement, the balanced scoring, which has been the Titan offense of the past . . . they need to stick with that, if possible. 

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 53
Elmhurst 41

Victoria Perry: 22 pts (9-10 FT)
Esther Miller: 12 pts, 8 stls
Chantel Hairston: 10 pts, 11 rebs, 4:2 a:to, 3 stls

Taylor Harazin: 15 pts (9-9 FT), 10 rebs
Anna Kleszynski: 10 pts

What a weird game. The Vikings, whose shooting line was a horrific .254/.211/.607 that had relatively little to do with the caliber of defense offered by Elmhurst, couldn't buy a basket if their lives depended upon it. Layups, midrange jumpers, trey attempts, free throws ... you name it, the Vikings ganked it. As clearly talent-challenged as Elmhurst is, the 'jays nevertheless led for most of the contest, and were actually up by 11 just a bit past the midway point of the third quarter. The 'jays weren't exactly clicking on all cylinders, but they were making more shots than NPU was, and they were playing pretty darned hard. What's more, the undersized Vikings really had no answer at all for Taylor Harazin, who had her way every time she touched the ball within ten feet of the basket. For a while I was wondering if NPU would not only lose the biggest upset of the year, but if they'd even crack forty on the scoreboard.

EU led by eight going into the fourth quarter, and an Anna Kleszynski jumper eleven seconds into the quarter put them back up by ten at 41-31. And then an amazing thing happened. North Park shut out the Bluejays for nine minutes and 49 seconds. That's right; Kleszynski's deuce was the first, last, and only basket the visitors made in the fourth quarter. By turning up the defensive pressure, the Vikings finally found a reliable way to score -- via transition. Elmhurst turned the ball over eleven times in the final quarter while going 0-8 from the field after Kleszynski's basket without getting to the line even once. Harazin and Kleszynski fouled out, depriving Tethnie Carillo of her two primary weapons, and Victoria Perry got going with 12 of her 22 points to spark the Park, with most of those points coming from the free-throw line. The Vikings ended up scoring the final 22 points of the game, winning the fourth quarter by a 22-2 tally.

Ugly, ugly game, but every win looks the same in the standings. NPU is back up to the .500 mark at 7-7 and is now 3-2 in CCIW play.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie earned a huge win at home by staving off Carroll, 67-64, in a Sunday matinee. Emma Berg led the way with 16 points off the bench for the Rock Islanders, while Corey Whitlock scored 10 and Gabby Loiz grabbed seven rebounds. Olivia Rangel had 21 and 10 in the lost cause for the Pios, while Emilie Wizner chipped in 11.

Augie (4-2) slips into sole possession of second place, a half-game ahead of Carroll, North Park, and Wheaton at 3-2. The only question in my mind is by how many games will Millikin (5-0) win the league.

[iwu70]

Yes, MU could win the league by quite a few games.   Not many chances to stop them now.  IWU has a chance on Wednesday in Decatur to put a loss on them, but I doubt it will happen . . . do we see the Titans of the four-game slide or the Titans of the second half against Carthage?   IWU needs Knutson back and will need an all-out effort to keep it close . . .  (no Kendall Sosa around this time . . . ). 

'70

[RogK]

Congrats to Esther Miller, the new CCIW player of the week!
https://cciw.org/news/2023/1/9/womens-basketball-north-parks-esther-miller-nets-weekly-cciw-honor.aspx
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[Riley Zayas]

Yes, MU could win the league by quite a few games.   Not many chances to stop them now.  IWU has a chance on Wednesday in Decatur to put a loss on them, but I doubt it will happen . . . do we see the Titans of the four-game slide or the Titans of the second half against Carthage?   IWU needs Knutson back and will need an all-out effort to keep it close . . .  (no Kendall Sosa around this time . . . ). 

'70

And yet Millikin received just 6 points in this recent Top 25 poll...

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, MU could win the league by quite a few games.   Not many chances to stop them now.  IWU has a chance on Wednesday in Decatur to put a loss on them, but I doubt it will happen . . . do we see the Titans of the four-game slide or the Titans of the second half against Carthage?   IWU needs Knutson back and will need an all-out effort to keep it close . . .  (no Kendall Sosa around this time . . . ). 

'70

And yet Millikin received just 6 points in this recent Top 25 poll...

That's easy to explain: the CCIW is simply weak this season.

Millikin is our best team, but by national standards the Big Blue aren't really a powerhouse.

[RogK]

Greg, does the Massey formula rank D3 WBB teams #1 through #425?
We're roughly half done with the regular season, so such rankings could have some relevance now, obviously more as the game results accumulate.

[Gregory Sager]

Massey seems off to me. Ken's got the CCIW as the #5 conference, yet the league is barely above .500 in non-conference play. Seven of the league's nine teams are listed among the top 27% of D3 women's basketball by Massey, yet only two of those teams (Millikin and Augie) have W-L records that are better than two games above .500, and one of them (Carthage) is actually underwater at the moment at 6-8.

[iwu70]

Agree with Greg on the CCIW's women's game being weak this season . . . plenty of evidence for it.  To me, the men aren't all that strong either. 

I'll go down to Decatur tonight to cheer for the Titans and hope they play like they did in the second half vs. Carthage, not like they did during their four game losing streak earlier.   With Coffman back, and Knudsen playing so well, it's going to be tough for IWU to win on the Big Blue's home floor (and you'all know how much I love the Griz!  ).   Let's hope the Titans play a perfect game tonight and shock everyone.  Very doubtful.

IWU'70