WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Moser · December 09, 2009, 12:41:13 AM

Kylie Castans leaving IWU:

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/article_47fbf852-e475-11de-a9b3-001cc4c002e0.html

How does this impact the Titans going forward? I assume Nikki Preston will start now.

Hoosier Titan · December 09, 2009, 01:31:59 AM

Quote from: Moser on December 09, 2009, 12:41:13 AM
Kylie Castans leaving IWU:

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/article_47fbf852-e475-11de-a9b3-001cc4c002e0.html

How does this impact the Titans going forward? I assume Nikki Preston will start now.

Just heard about this today and thought it wouldn't be announced until the weekend. I have no insider knowledge about who will start, but Nikki seems like the natural candidate to me as well. Karen Solari and Melissa Gardner have been the others getting a lot of time at that spot as well.

Kylie's a great player and she will be missed; however, the team is deep and I have confidence that others will fill the gap. I join Coach Smith in wishing Kylie well at ISU.

RogK · December 09, 2009, 11:29:33 AM

That's sad news. I'll miss watching Kylie play hoops, which she is very good at. Plus, she has a nice smile.
Good luck to her at ISU. It was also fun talking basketball with her dad several times at the Elmhurst summer league and at regular games.
By the way, it turns out that Augustana did play Monday at RM-Springfield, getting edged 59-57.
Natalie Runge (15, 11) and Lani Kasten (11, 11) each had a double-double.

RogK · December 09, 2009, 01:37:37 PM

Here are the current 3FG attempts per game:
Millikin 21.3
Wheaton 19.5
IWU 18.3
NC 16.2
Carthage 14.7
Aug 14.4
Elmh 12
NP 11.2

bflong · December 09, 2009, 10:52:27 PM

Elmhurst was the only winning team tonight! Both Wheaton and Augie lost, while Elmhurst hit some key free throws down the stretch to beat a fairly good team (Nebraska Wesleyan). Meghan Merklein was on fire in the first half putting up 16 of her 21 points in the opening mark. Lyndsie Long had another solid performance putting up 31, after taking very few shots in the opening half (6ts). The Jays forced several turnovers and many of the players got to see playing time on the road which is always a good sign!

Titan Q · December 12, 2009, 09:43:52 AM

A story from a Peoria TV station on the Titans...

http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/video/?cid=90282

Hoosier Titan · December 12, 2009, 10:21:03 AM

Quote from: Titan Q on December 12, 2009, 09:43:52 AM
A story from a Peoria TV station on the Titans...

http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/video/?cid=90282

Nice story; thanks for posting it.

Only one small quibble: IWU women's teams are not "Lady Titans." They are Titans, period.

Hoosier Titan · December 12, 2009, 02:36:10 PM

The Illinois Wesleyan Titans take on the Fighting Saints (!) of St. Francis University (NAIA) at Shirk today at 5:00. Last year the Saints gave the Titans their closest call of the regular season, with the Titans pulling out their only lead in the final seconds. I was not at that game, but those who were described the Saints as big and physical. This season they are 3-6 to date, with recent losses to two NCAA Division I schools, Chicago State and Western Illinois, and one to NAIA DI #17 McKendree. Hard to know exactly what to expect, but the Titans would do well not to overlook this game (not that I expect that to happen).

Probable lineup for the Saints, based on their previous outings:

20 Storm, Jacqie 5'9" g 12.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 19/12 A/TO
04 Sears, Anna 5'8' g 11.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 18/38 A/TO
34 Baird, Kaci 6'0" f 11.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 9/21 A/TO
23 Fazio, Kellie 5'10" f 8.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 11/22 A/TO
03 Carls, Katie 5'5" g 6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 30/27 A/TO

5'10" Nikki Preston is the most likely to replace the departed Kylie Castans in the IWU lineup today. Nikki is averaging over 10 points a game coming off the bench to play about 18 minutes per game in the last four games (she missed playing the start of the season due to a concussion). She shoots the three very well and is one of the Titans' best defensive players.

Moser · December 12, 2009, 05:23:36 PM

Wheaton blasts Judson (Ill.) 83-56 at King Arena. Five Thunder players in double figures.

Augie wins against Cornell 56-51 in Rock Island.

Trinity Intl. beats North Park 63-57 in Chicago. Kam Acree with 22 for the Vikings

Loras whips North Central 92-76 in Dubuque

Hoosier Titan · December 12, 2009, 11:26:31 PM

Any concern that I might have had earlier about IWU looking past St. Francis proved unfounded as the Titans rolled over the Fighting Saints 88-64. The entire team contributed to this effort; no one played more than Hope Schulte's 26 minutes. First year Melissa Gardner led the scoring with 14, going 4/6 on threes and grabbing three rebounds. Karen Solari was 3/4 from the field for 12 points and she seemed much more influential than her line of 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 steal suggest. Sarah Cotner came off the bench for some quality minutes, scoring 8 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and running the court well. Christina Solari was double and triple teamed and still led the rebounding with 9.

The Titans outrebounded the Saints 51-34. There were probably too many open looks for 3's and long 2's to make Mia Smith completely happy. Katie Carls led all scorers with 15, and Michelle Karr came off the bench to score 10 in the second half for the Saints.

The Titans are off now until a New Year's tournament in California.

bflong · December 14, 2009, 03:09:28 PM

Congratulations to Elmhurst College Bluejay, Lyndsie Long on earning CCIW Player of the Week!!!

RogK · December 14, 2009, 07:06:07 PM

My tip of the hat to L Long, too.
Here are a few tidbits from weekend games.
On Friday I saw Carthage lose a tight one at Robert Morris- Chicago. Diana Jacklin was relied on heavily and she produced 19 pts and 15 rebounds. The game ended sourly for the Lady Reds. They won't have to dwell on the loss for long, since they play tonight.
Saturday afternoon, I saw North Park lose by 6 to Trinity International U. The Vikings' Kamauria Acree had a strong game with 22 pts. She plays bigger than her size.
As does North Central's Latrice Newson, who poured in 33 pts (13/19, 7/12) and took 11 rebounds in their game against Loras.
Wheaton and Augie got good work from many players in their wins.
Millikin had an odd game against Illinois College, falling behind 47-16 at the half. Then they dominated the 2nd half, 44-25, with Elise Wildman scoring all of her 20.

RogK · December 15, 2009, 11:43:45 AM

Heather Gilmore had a 5 steal, 9 pt 1st half and Dani Ripkey had a 17 pt 2nd half as Carthage topped Concordia-Wisc 74-62 last night.
Ripkey's 21 for the game led both teams. The Lady Reds got 13 from Gilmore, 14 from Diana Jacklin, 11 and 7 assists from Katie Klemke, 9 pts and 9 rebounds from Rosie Dorn.

RogK · December 16, 2009, 11:25:40 AM

Augustana beat Aurora 61-48. Lani Kasten had 15 pts, 9 rebs.
North Central fell to Chicago 71-48. NC shot about 36% on 2FGs and 19% on threes.

RogK · December 17, 2009, 11:38:42 AM

Meghan Merklein and Kelsey Monroe came through in the final minutes, propelling Elmhurst to a 59-57 win over Robert Morris - Springfield last night.
Elmhurst's web site has a good summary of the sequence of events.
Lyndsie Long led with 18 pts and 11 rebs.
In my opinion, Elmhurst will need to raise its defensive intensity several notches in order to be competitive with Carthage, Wheaton and others.
I understand that they don't want to get key players in foul trouble by being too much in-your-face on defense, but guarding from six or eight feet away allows the opposition to move the ball around with far too much ease.