WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwumichigander]

Final IWU 82 Elmhurst 72

Congratulations Titans!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final in B'town: IWU 82, Elmhurst 72.

Lyndsie Long had a late flurry (before fouling out with 27 seconds left) to reach 32 points, but it was too little, too late.  After scoring 18 of the Jays' 24 points in the first ten minutes, she scored only 6 points over the next 25+ minutes.

The Titans countered with balance and depth - Preston had 19, Schulte 17, C. Solari 14, and Lett had 12.

[Moser]

Ill. Wesleyan 82
Elmhurst 72

Elmhurst
  -Lyndsie Long: 32 points, 7 rebounds
  -Megan Ney: 18 points
  -Meghan Merklein: 12 points, 7 rebounds

Illinois Wesleyan
  -Nikki Preston: 19 points, 4 steals
  -Hope Schulte: 17 points
  -Christina Solari: 14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists
  -Olivia Lett: 12 points

A great game, Elmhurst just ran out of gas at some key moments. The Jays really only played 7 players and that's tough to do against the Titans pressure. That bad stretch to close the half is what buried Elmhurst.

The Titans have mastered the art of the scoring run. It's usually just takes 1 or 2 big runs for them to make an otherwise competitive game into a double digit lead.

IWU just had too many weapons for Elmhurst to handle. The Jays' 2-3 zone gave IWU some problems in the second half, but the thing with zones is that it is much more difficult to rebound. IWU killed Elmhurst on the offensive glass in the second half. 19 total offensive boards for the Titans.

A great farewell game for Lyndsie Long. She carried her team in the first half and deferred to her teammates at the right times in the second half. Merklein and Ney (just sophomores) will continue to be a tough post duo in the next couple of years for the Jays. But Elmhurst has a ton to replace with Long leaving.

Congrats to Lyndsie on a fabulous career. Also congrats to Elmhurst's other seniors, Maggie McTeague and Rashida Joiner, on their careers as well. It is unfortunate that McTeague could not play this weekend after getting injured against Wheaton.

Now it's tournament time, and it will be interesting to see the draws for IWU and (presumably) Carthage.

[WESNSports]

Fantastic game for the CCIW Final, and a great analysis there by Moser.  I've posted my post-game interviews with some of the Titans, Olivia Lett, Nikki Preston, Christina Solari, and Hope Schulte, along with Coach Smith.  I was hoping to also talk to Lyndsie Long after the game, but she was very emotional obviously.  The interviews can be heard at www.wesn.org/881.  WESN will be broadcasting the NCAA games for the Titans as well next weekend.

[Hoosier Titan]

Congratulations to both teams on a hard fought championship game that didn't ever feel like a double-digit game!  I was really glad to be able to watch it.

Looking at the stats for the Titans, a couple of players whose stats might not jump out at you immediately had a huge impact:

Stacey Arlis   8 points 9 rebounds (5 offensive) 1 block 1 steal

Arlis was the key to the Titans' big run to end the first half: she had an offensive rebound, a basket, a steal, and another basket in the space of 12 seconds of playing time.  That took the lead from a shaky 6 to double digits, and it grew to 16 at the half.  And the 9 rebounds for the game were huge--more in a minute on that.

Olivia Lett 12 points  3 rebounds 

Lett impressed by her ability to run the point, as well as shooting both inside and out.  She's a big addition to the Titan arsenal.

Overall, I think rebounding was the key to the game.  Elmhurst shot much better than the Titans:  54% overall to 44%, with a huge disparity in the 3-point percentage where Elmhurst led 57% to 38%.  The difference?  The Titans' 66 shots taken compared to 50 for the Bluejays.  The Titans' 19 offensive rebounds made this possible.

The Bluejays handled the Titan press beautifully until that stretch to end the first half, with the final turnover ratio ending at 22/11. 

Again, congratulations to both teams and their coaches.  The graduating seniors will be missed, and there are a lot of good players on both sides returning next year.

[iwu70]

Sounds like a terrific CCIW Tourney Championship game.  My congrats to both teams and to both coaching staffs.  Look forward to seeing the draw for IWU and Carthage for the DIII dance.  Really too bad Elmhurst could not get in too.  Way to go Titans -- CCIW conference and CCIW Tourney Champs.  Great season . . . keep it going.  Let's fill Shirk totally for women's basketball. 

Gotta love the CCIW Championship in Track and Field for the IWU women as well!  Good weekend for IWU women's athletics. 

[79jaybird]

The Men (somehow) got 3 CCIW teams in.

Anybody think the CCIW will get 3 women's teams in?

[Moser]

The Men (somehow) got 3 CCIW teams in.

Anybody think the CCIW will get 3 women's teams in?

No chance, unfortunately. Elmhurst has never appeared in the regional rankings.

[RogK]

My congratulations to the Titans for winning the CCIW tournament!
Good luck to them and Carthage in the national tourney.
Also, "way to go" to Lyndsie Long, fellow Bluejay seniors Rashida Joiner and Maggie McTeague and Millikin's senior Brooke Carlson for very fine careers that drew to a close in Bloomington.
McTeague and Carlson couldn't play this weekend due to injury, but their contributions have been appreciated throughout their four years.
There was some talk about whether Rashida might have another year of eligibility, but it didn't appear likely, last I heard.

[Titan Q]

The Men (somehow) got 3 CCIW teams in.

Everyone who projected the men's Pool C's had both IWU and Wheaton in.  Based on the established 5 primary criteria, it was actually pretty obvious by last night that the men would get 3 in.

[Pat Coleman]

Women's bracket posted: http://www.d3boards.com/playoffs/wbkb-bracket2010.pdf

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU hosts the opening rounds.  The bracket overall is probably as good as we could hope for (no WashU, for example), though, alas, Pat was right that IWU and Hope (if they survive) are destined to meet short of the FF.  I had my heart set on that as the title game!

[WUPHF]

IWU hosts the opening rounds.  The bracket overall is probably as good as we could hope for (no WashU, for example), though, alas, Pat was right that IWU and Hope (if they survive) are destined to meet short of the FF.  I had my heart set on that as the title game!

It looks like, if all goes well, we could get that rematch we talked about a few weeks ago.  IIllinois Weslyan and Hope would have been good, but given the recent history, I cannot think of anything more exciting than Titans-Bears.  Of course, my team needs to get a lot of work done in order for that to happen.

[iwumichigander]

IWU hosts the opening rounds.  The bracket overall is probably as good as we could hope for (no WashU, for example), though, alas, Pat was right that IWU and Hope (if they survive) are destined to meet short of the FF.  I had my heart set on that as the title game!

With wins, IWU likely plays out their entire NCAA tournament at the Shirk.

[sumfun]

I don't believe they are allowed to play the entire tournament at home.  That was Hope's problem over the last two years.....if you host the Fnal Four you can't host the Sectional Round.  They will most likely have to go on the road weekend after next and that is where Hope stumbled.