WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU over Elmhurst 81 - 47

15 Titans scored, four in double figures. 

IWU held EC to 5 points in the 2nd Q. 

Keep climbing up the standings . . . get that #3 seed, if possible.

'70

[lmitzel]

NCC's trend of good first quarters against top of the conference teams continued as they led 15-13 after one thanks to a few three's. Unfortunately the game is 40 minutes, and Carroll's press did its job (17 turnovers, which seems low, but led to 27 Pioneer points, which... also seems low but not by a lot) and the Pios ran away with this one 91-55 in a game that took just 78 minutes to complete.

Olivia Rangel: 20 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast
Allison Thompson: 14 pts, 7 reb
Lauren Soyke: 11 pts, 4 reb
Natalie Palzkill: 10 pts, 4 reb

Mitrese Smith: 17 pts, 5 reb
Natalie Stavropolous: 12 pts
Grace Keiffer: 5 ast

We had one super bizarre play in the 2nd quarter during Carroll's decisive run. A Pioneer came in from the three point line and hit maybe a 16 footer. I called it as I would a two point basket, but the officials signaled a three. That's what went in the book, and on the board. Thankfully during the media timeout, the officials conferenced real quick, and confirmed with us that that three was in fact a two, and we were able to adjust accordingly. My announcement about the change might have been the most excited the NCC crowd got all night.

[GoPerry]

Augustana 69
Wheaton 67 at King Arena

Tough home loss for Wheaton in a very close game most of the way.  Freshman Kate Oliver got fouled on a three pointer with less than a second left and Wheaton down by 3.  But she couldn't convert all three.  Caroline Sikkink led Wheaton with 20 pts while freshman Anna Fernandez had 14 and 11.  Macy Beinborn had 24 pts on 8 of 16 shooting, 5/10 from trey.   Carly Stone had 19 on 5/7 three point.

Lady Vikes made just a few more plays and made a few more baskets.

[lmitzel]

Side note: was good to see Rog at the hangar tonight.

[RogK]

Likewise, lmitzel !
It certainly was a quick game ... not many timeouts or free throws.
North Central could have used the tall Abby Davidson to go against even taller Allison Thompson, but Davidson is sidelined by injury. She happened to exit the gym right in front of me and I noted a bit of limping/hobbling/favoring. Hopefully she can return to action this month.
I heard that Carroll's Kate Christian (also present, but sidelined Wednesday) may not be allowed to play due to leg injury. I don't know if the diagnosis is complete or in progress. Surely disappointing that she can't play, particularly for a senior who is a key part of her team.
Best wishes to her and each of the other injured players around the league.

[iwu70]

RogK, yes, injuries playing a big part this time of year.  Seems more this year than usual.  IWU has three in boots, including two starters.  Powers unlikely to return, perhaps Collins and Knutson will get back.  Others playing through lesser injuries.   It's a long season and here we are with 4-5 games to go, the freshmen getting more playing time than expectedd . . . IWU has to grit it out to get to the CCIW tournament, surely playing in the 3-6 seed games on the Tuesday, then hopefully on the weekend at The Griz, somehow trying to get to the championship game.   Looks like Carroll vs. host MU to me. 

'70

[iwu70]

Two really big games now for IWU at home -- Carroll on Saturday, then Millikin coming to the Shirk on the 8th.  I wish the Titans were at full strength, but they are not.  Two starters and one key sub still in boots.  We may get Knutson back . . . but unlikely Powers.  Titans will really have to play their best to be competitive with these two top CCIW teams.

Surely looks like IWU lands somewhere in the 3-6 seeds, but it would be nice to put up some good performances, better than the earlier games, against Carroll and Millikin.

I won't be surprised to see Sawyer White take a crack at guarding Knudsen.  And likely many others . . .

'70

[lmitzel]

Here's a look at our standings going into tomorrow.

x-Millikin	11-0
x-Carroll	9-2
x-Augustana	8-4
Illinois Wesleyan	7-5
Wheaton	7-5
Carthage	5-6
North Park	3-9
North Central	2-10
Elmhurst	0-11

Elmhurst would be mathematically eliminated with a loss at the hangar tomorrow or a Carthage win at Augie. A Firebird win plus an Elmhurst win tomorrow knocks NCC out as well.

As for clinching scenarios, Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton can both punch their conference tournament tickets with victories. Millikin guarantees no worse than hosting a Tuesday game with a win, and guarantee a bye to the weekend with a win plus an Augie loss to Carthage. Carroll can guarantee no worse than a Tuesday home game as well with a victory.

[lmitzel]

Elmhurst 75, NCC 62

I'm gonna go drown my sorrows in Lou Malnati's NCC provided.

[Gregory Sager]

A day of big surprises in the CCIW:

* Elmhurst wins its first CCIW game in a calendar year, downing North Central by 13 in the hangar;

* With Carroll missing PG Kate Christian, Illinois Wesleyan takes full advantage by turning over the Pios 29 times en route to a surprisingly easy 78-55 win at Shirk;

* And, in the biggest shocker of the night, Wheaton totally dominates previously-undefeated Millikin at both ends of the floor and cruises to a 66-48 victory at King.

The only game that went according to form was Augie's 74-48 romp over Carthage at Carver.

[iwu70]

Yes, an unusual, surprising evening, to be sure.

IWU dominated Carroll, winning 78 (yes, get to 78) to 55.

The Titans saw and ran the floor beautifully tonight, opening up all kinds of fast break points, winning that line 25-8.  Speed kills and they basically outran the Pios tonight.  And the TO line by a whopping 29 - 14.  Run and jump doing its dirt, with good trapping defense.  One of the best performances overall by the Titans this year.  Let's hope they can keep up this form on Wednesday night against no longer undefeated Millikin.   

For CU:
Rangel, the only Pio to reach double figures, 10, hounded well all night.

For IWU:
White 19 and 7 with 6 steals
Huber 18 and 8
Mahlum, her best game as a Titan, 11
Palmer 15
Knutson, out of the boot and with limited minutes, 11 on 5-5 shooting from the field.

Powers and Collins still in boots.


If the Titans play like this, they can beat anyone in the league.  All I can say is that Sawyer White is going to be one heck of a player in the next few years.   At a few points tonight, Coach Smith had four freshmen and one sophomore on the floor, matched up against the PIOs:  Galvan, Mahlum, Balli, White and Huber . . . the future is bright.

Big crowd on Pink Zone night, a good chunk of money raised for the local Cancer Center . . . Mia Smith, as a cancer survivor, cancer-free now 11 years, speaking to the crowd after the game.   A very enjoyable and moving game and evening.

IWU'70

[RogK]

a couple of comments after having attended the Millikin at Wheaton game :
- without looking at any stats during the game, I did observe that Wheaton was getting a lot of offensive rebounds and they ended up with 15 ... Millikin got only 4 and lost the total rebounding 58 - 26!
- while Elyce Knudsen finished with 29 pts, I thought Caylee Hermanson (and occasionally others) did fine work guarding her --- none of the 29 was particularly easy ..
overall, Wheaton's defense was very energetic and deserves much credit for causing Millikin's crummy shooting night
---
iwu70, I've attended IWU games at North Park, Carthage and Wheaton and agree with your optimism for Sawyer White ... she's quite agile and athletic and keeps improving ... she has a long reach too, I think, which helps many aspects of her game

[iwu70]

RogK, thanks for the update on the Millikin loss.  Truly a great win for Wheaton tonight, and surprising too.  Someone did a great job of defense on Coffman.

Sawyer White has great footwork -- she's apparently an outstanding soccer player too.  And, as you mentioned, very quick hands on defense, causing all kinds of havoc, deflections and steals.  As she gets more and more comfortable with her offensive game, she's really going to be effective.  Tonight, she really played well, IWU's top scorer with 19, rebounding it well and getting those steals.   Huber actually had 7 steals tonight too.  Both very smart players. . . getting more comfortable in their roles in "run and jump" trapping press.   

IWU's future with all these young players is bright.   And, Powers, Palmer, Huber and Knutson (given her eligibility) are really sophomores, so two more years playing after this year.   The Titans only lose Heller and Carlson to graduation. . .

It will be interesting to see how Sawyer White does on Knudsen, if she gets that chance this Wednesday at The Shirk.  Should be a good one.  I hope IWU gets closer than the 9-point loss we took at The Griz.   MU will need to bounce back after that Wheaton loss.

Hope you are well.

'70 

[GoPerry]

Wheaton big win at home on senior night, over Millikin 66-48.

Congratulation on the Wheaton ladies.  They played with great intensity, especially on the defensive end, for 40 minutes.  If they could only learn to play this hard every game, I really believe they can have more success.

A lot was strange about the game.  Millikin, who hasn't had much difficulty putting points on the board this season, just could not get very much to fall.  The Thunder, on the other hand have had plenty of trouble scoring at times.  But for three quarters tonight the offense was really clicking.  To keep Bailey Coffman scoreless on 0-9 shooting is very unusual.  And then, as RogK said, the rebounding lopsidedness seems almost mathematically impossible.  Outrebounding you opponent by over twice as much, 58-26?  On the other side of the ledger, Wheaton committed 24 turnovers ( not that unusual I'm afraid)!

This victory keeps Wheaton in the running to host a first rd CCIW tourney game.

[Roundball999]

I didn't see the Wheaton game but noted from the box score that Ellie Cassel had a nice night with 12 pts on 6-10 shooting; 14 rebs, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals and only 1 TO in 35 minutes.  This after losing a starting spot and playing dwindling minutes in recent games.  Just a matchup decision, or something else?