WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Possible upset alert in Bloomington!

(Oops, scratch that - while I was typing the Titans scored 6 points in 40 seconds!)

Blue Jays 24, Titans 22, 6 to go in first half.

[Mr. Ypsi]

When I first signed on, with 7 minutes to go in the half, the first thing I saw was the 'shocking' score of Elmhurst 24, IWU 16.  Over the final 7 minutes, the Titans went on a 26-8 run to restore order to the cosmos!

Livestats has shown 8 seconds remaining for the last five minutes, so I'm gonna assume the operator went 'walkabout' at the buzzer without updating!  Presumably, the halftime score is IWU 42, Elmhurst 32.

Christina Solari has 12 points, 6 boards.  Lyndsie Long was on fire early, but was contained late (story of the half?) - she has 15 points.

[After hitting 'save' I noted livestats finally updated - that IS the halftime score.]

[Mr. Ypsi]

No one in serious foul trouble - Hasselbring (I), Joiner (E), and Ney (E) each have two; all others have 0 or 1.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final from B'town: Titans 73, Blue Jays 60.

A valiant effort by Elmhurst.  Megan Ney had 11 points and 14 boards.  Lyndsie Long exploded for 26 - I would think she has GOT to be at least 2nd or 3rd team AA!

Christina Solari led the way with 17 and 9.  Nikki Preston and Hope Schulte each chipped in 12.

Barring something totally unexpected, looks like the CCIW tourney will be at the Shirk - good warm-up for the staff for the Final Four!

[iwu70]

Congrats to the Titans.  Really good win putting Elmhurst 2 games adrift.  Keep it rolling, Titans, and get ready for a good tourney run.  Glad to see the men win tonight too, with Duncan Larsen coming back well into the rotation and finding his shooting form.  Carthage lost -- on the men's side -- so both IWU teams in 1st place now in the CCIW.  I'm love'in it.  Both teams are demonstrating the importance of depth, and deeper rotations than most teams.

[RogK]

My congrats too to IWU for an important win.
I didn't get to any of Saturday's games. Here are some scattered comments anyway:
Carthage demolished Augie with a 52-21 2nd half, winning 80-35.
A lot of Lady Reds did well; for example -  Cailee Corcoran, 5/6 FG, 3/3 FT, 4 steals in 20:00.
For the game, Augustana produced 12 baskets and 33 turnovers, which would have been fine if it was a bake sale and craft fair.
Maybe Augie's remaining four games, all at home, will be better.
Millikin defeated North Central 76-59. Subbing was not a popular activity in that game; only three players came off the bench, totaling 34:00 for NC and 9:00 for the Big Blue.
Wheaton sped out to a 51-30 halftime lead and withstood a strong 2nd half rally by North Park, culminating in an 84-79 Thunder win. Lindsey Brenneman continued her fine shooting, scoring 24, including 8/8 FTs and 4/8 threes. Annie Bowen made 9 of 10 FTs and Elisabeth Potts, 7 of 9.
Kamauria Acree hit all 12 of her FTs and led NP with 22 pts.

[RogK]

Congrats to Elise Wildman for another player of the week award.
The voters had a lot to pick from this time.
Lindsey Brenneman scored 25 and 24, and is always a good ballhandler (2 total TOs in these games).
Lyndsie Long poured in 29 and 26.
Kamauria Acree had back-to-back 22 pt games.
Hope Schulte is a definite 1st team all-CCIW in my view, but will probably never win a player-of-the-week, in part because her greatest contributions are not points and rebounds. I trust that the voters will not screw up when it comes to recognizing her at the end of the season.

[RogK]

Does anyone have suggestions for 1st team all-CCIW?
I would put Christina Solari, Hope Schulte, Lyndsie Long. Leaning toward Diana Jacklin and Elise Wildman for the other two spots.
Due to politicking among the coaches, it's hard to get two players from the same team on 1st team. The nominating/voting process discourages it, too.
There are loads of wonderful players to fill in the 2nd and 3rd teams.
At this point, I'd say Player of the Year is between Long and Solari.

[iwu70]

RogK, I totally agree with you about Hope Schulte.  A marvelous talent, especially in the press mode that the Titans excel at in turning defense into offense. 

[RogK]

The Carthage - Elmhurst game will be played Wednesday at 5:00 pm.
Not sure if any other weather-induced postponements have occurred.

[RogK]

Christina Solari (18 pts, 15 rebs) and four other Titans scored in double figures as IWU beat Millikin 80-59. Crystal Zeigler topped MU with 16 and 13.
Wheaton got past Augie, 65-35. Jennifer Lee came off the bench to contribute 10 pts, 5 rebs, 3 steals for the Thunder, who spread their scoring around. Augie again suffered from turnoveritis. Lani Kasten had 11 rebounds and 10 pts.
Wheaton trails Millikin by a game in the standings, with 3 to go.

[RogK]

I attended North Central's 61-55 win at North Park.
Latrice Newson had a sharp game for NC; she and NP's Lyndsey Thompson  led their teams with 18 pts. Thompson had 5 blocks and 9 rebs as well.
NC's Jenny Swanson added 16, mostly from good outside shooting. Kaelyn Witkowski grabbed 4 steals. Alison Musur played well, providing the Cardinals with a good boost.
Christine Karl deferred to others early in the game, but was a major factor getting the win down the stretch.
NP's Shaina Yalda topped everyone with 7 assists. Teammate Sarah Peterson appeared to be under the weather, but had 3 steals and 3 blocks among her efforts.
It was a decent game to watch, but  I should have gone to this  local NAIA game instead:  St Xavier 113, Olivet Nazarene 97.
ONU had one player with 15 rebounds in 20:00, another with 11 assists in 20:00 and another took 17 threes in 16:00, making 6.
SXU had one player with 22 pts 17 rebs, another scored 32 and another one scored 33.

[Bulldog8]

Elmhurst Blujays' Lyndsie Long broke 3 records tonight in a buzzer beater loss to Carthage! She scored 45 points, breaking the Bluejays old record of 41 set by Shannon Forgue in 1986. Most 3 pointers in a game (8); previous was six for school record. Lastly, breaking the CCIW's single-game scoring record; the previous record held by North Park's Rachel Pearson Bernero in 1994. She added 11 boards. Bluejay's total points in a career record is in the midst... (Rumor Alert) CCIW Player of the year (Rumor Alert)...

[Moser]

Elmhurst Blujays' Lyndsie Long broke 3 records tonight in a buzzer beater loss to Carthage! She scored 45 points, breaking the Bluejays old record of 41 set by Shannon Forgue in 1986. Most 3 pointers in a game (8); previous was six for school record. Lastly, breaking the CCIW's single-game scoring record; the previous record held by North Park's Rachel Pearson Bernero in 1994. She added 11 boards. Bluejay's total points in a career record is in the midst... (Rumor Alert) CCIW Player of the year (Rumor Alert)...

http://www.elmhurstbluejays.com/custompages/WBB/2009-2010/welm22.htm

From the boxscore this looks like an incredible game. I'm sure Elmhurst would like to have the first half back. The Bluejays also went just 14-24 at the foul line, which can't leave a very good taste in a one point loss.

Lyndsie Long is certainly making a strong case for MOP.

[RogK]

Tonight's game in Elmhurst was a game to remember, and was an extraordinary night for two of our conference's seniors.
Carthage came in seeking to avenge the earlier Blue Jay win in Kenosha and built a 46-30 lead by halftime.
Then Elmhurst's Lyndsie Long (who had 14 1st half points) took over with a spectacularly fabulous and fabulously spectacular 31 point 2nd half. She thrilled the Blue Jay fans and impressed the Carthage partisans. Her 45 pts set a new CCIW record. She also topped everyone with 11 rebounds. She made 8 of 13 threes, many under serious defensive pressure from the Lady Reds' excellent defender Heather Gilmore and others.
With seven seconds to go, Elmhurst had an 84-82 lead, seeming to have successfully fended off Carthage's efforts.
Enter the Carthage point guard Katie Klemke, playing her 40th minute of the game.
Getting the ball in the backcourt, she scampered just across midcourt, launched and banked in a game-winning game-ending three. It was a time of pure delight for Katie and her teammates, her coaches, the whole assemblage of Carthage family and friends. Somewhere under a pile of her teammates, there was Katie Klemke enjoying one of the better moments possible in basketball. For the game, she made all 4 of her threes, finishing with 16 pts and 7 assists.
Without any doubt, both teams deserved to win this one, with fine contributions from all who played. Carthage's Diana Jacklin was particularly sharp, with 24 pts, 8 rebs and 3 blocks.
But this was a night for two wonderful seniors, each one using talents developed over thousands of hours of practice, during hundreds of games over many years.
Lyndsie Long (naturally disappointed by the loss) had one of the best games in the nation this year and one of the best in CCIW history.
I talked to her dad afterwards and he was very proud of his kid, disappointed by the loss and had compliments for Katie Klemke, too, whom he has seen develop as a player during the four years of Katie's and Lyndsie's college careers.
A big "way to go" to Lyndsie and Katie!