WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Good to see the Titans keeping it rolling.  They now have 4 players averaging in double figures as Hope Schulte continues to work her way back into the same kind of form she demonstrated last year.  Stacey, Lett and Preston still having banner seasons.  I think as pressure defense and rebounding go, so go the Titans.  They don't have the steals or turnover ratios they enjoyed last year, though Arlis Stacey has well replaced the scoring and rebounding of Christina Solari.  Strong guard play from Harvey and Hasselbring will be crucial to the rest of the season, limiting TOs and fouls . . . along with a decent overall team percentage from 3-land.  Arlis Stacey's shooting percentage is awesome.   Keep it up, Titans.  Get stronger and stronger, play together better and better.

[bblover]

I caught the Elmhurst at North Central game via Live Stats. I hope someone that was there can also report. Elmhurst won its third in a row, reaching 500 for the first time this season. More importantly, they are still in the race for a CCIW playoff position. If they can get by Augustana on Saturday at home, they will face Milikin on the road next week in an important battle.

What goes up must come down (apparently). Elmhurst started the same line-up (3 seniors, 2 juniors) that played so well on Saturday vs Wheaton. Neither team could take control of the game in the first half. It was a see-saw 20 minutes, with the biggest lead being 4 points. For a change, Elmhurst finished the first half strongly. Down 3 with 3 minutes left, Elmhurst scored the final 7 points of the half to go into the locker room with a 4 point lead. At the mid-point, Merklein had 10 points for Elmhurst. Errico had 8 for NC.

As is often the case, that momentum carried over into the second half. With just over 10 minutes left, Elmhurst was up 14. North Central made some headway over the next six minutes, but Elmhurst still led by 10, 59-49, with just under 4 and a half minutes left in the game. Then, it got most interesting. Led by Errico, North Central stormed back. With just 12 seconds on the clock, Errico hit 2 pressure-packed free throws to tie the game. Both teams had opportunities in the final dozen seconds. In fact, Elmhurst appeared to win the game in the final tick, but the officials, after conferring, waved off the basket (as being after the buzzer).

In the first two minutes of the OT, the teams traded scores. Merklein continued to lead the way for Elmhust. As sometimes happens when a team spends a lot of energy catching up, North Central seemed to run out of gas at the end. After the 10th tie of the game at the 3:05 mark, Elmurst, led by Monroe and Merklein, outscored NC 9-2 for the win.

Errico led all scorers with 26; she also had 13 rebounds, 5 of them were offensive. Merklein continued her scoring ways, hitting 22 with 8 rebounds. This recap would not be complete without mentioning Kelsey Monroe of Elmhurst. She hit 19, 7 for 11 from the field, 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. All 4 of those free throws came in the final minute of the OT. The not-so-tall Monroe also had 5 rebounds.

[RogK]

A question for thunder38illini :
On a scale of 1 to 2, how important is today's Wheaton vs Millikin game?

[RogK]

How about on a scale of 36 to 42?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wheaton downs Millikin, 62-59.  I have no further details to provide.

That leaves IWU on top by two full games after the first run-through.  I'd say they are firmly in the driver's seat, though I'm not popping the champagne just yet.

[thunder38]

I regret that I'm just now getting around to the boards RogK but both teams certainly played with a lot of gusto tonight at King.  I felt like there was more energy in the gym for this game than the following men's game and rightfully so.  That was just a fun basketball game to watch and I'm sure it's a game that Lindsey Brenneman won't soon forget.  Several observations that I had from this one and I'm sure Rog can provide a couple more:

-I think Coach Madsen made the right decision not calling a timeout on the final possession.  Obviously it paid off with Brenneman knocking down the corner three with two seconds left but even if Wheaton wouldn't have gotten such a good look I still like the decision and as he stated in the postgame, it's easier in those situations for an offense to execute in the flow than for the defense.

-Both teams deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the amount of backbone shown.  Wheaton started the game 2-12 from the field and Kelly Brooks gave them a huge pick-up off the bench with several key midrange jumpers to get the offense going.  Millikin showed me a lot when all the momentum was against them and Wheaton was starting to gain some distance up 40-31, Millikin slowed the game back down, got the ball to Elise and she got a big three-point play that settled Millikin down and allowed them to regain their composure.

-Karsten and Olsen did a great job on Robert making her work to get open looks from deep and forcing her into some challenging shots.  I was impressed with how quick her shot release was because several times they were in great defensive possession but gave her just enough of a window to squeeze a shot off and she did and connected.

-Both teams had tremendous flow to their offenses in the second half.  Millikin's ball movement in the second half was a huge improvement from the first half and thats ultimately what led to Wildman having the better looks and Millikin getting her the ball as opposed to the first half when she was held to just five points.  Wheaton's offense really made Millikin work on the defensive end all night.  Their spacing was much better than what we saw at Elmhurst on Saturday night and their ball security was a huge improvement from last week as Wheaton only turned the ball over eight times on the night.

Halfway home and here's where we're at:

IWU 7-0
Wheaton 5-2
Millikin 5-2
Carthage 4-3
Elmhurst 4-3
North Central 2-5
North Park 1-6
Augie 0-7

[jshoops]

I wonder if she replicates the same style of play of her college teams?  Could you imagine this team if she would have came back for one more year!

Long time no post...  We attended the IWU-NPU game Saturday and we sat with the Christina and the rest of the Solari family. 

It was a bit of sloppy game played by both sides.  NPU did not give up and made a couple of runs to get the deficit back to within 5 and 11 in the 2nd half. In the end, NPU clearly did not have the depth to keep up with the bigger IWU team and the outside 3's by IWU. 

On a personal note, my daughter is playing for Maine South HS and the new Freshman-B coach, Christina Solari.  Under Christina, the B-team is at 14-1.

Yeah, and she COULD have done it (she had a legitimate medical red-shirt).  With no disrespect whatsoever to this year's Titans, if you add Christina I'd be willing to bet a fair amount that they would be undefeated and ranked #1!

But then your daughter's team probably wouldn't be 14-1!

Yeah, too bad Christina needed to graduate (LOL). Christina is now in a grad. program.  Hope to see more CCIW/IWU at the North Central, Elmhurst and Wheaton games if time permits (busy with my 2 kids in HS b-ball).

[RogK]

Thanks for the very good game report, thunder38illini.
I, too, thought the first half was less than dazzling; each team was fortunate not to be down by 15 at halftime, having blown a number of possessions by committing turnovers and/or missing easyish shots.
It was a big accomplishment for Wheaton to hold Wildman and Robert to a combined 26 pts. Those two can score 26 each in any game, if not guarded vigorously.
Millikin scored 24 pts via 25 2FG att and 24 pts via 23 3FG att.
Wheaton scored 30 pts via 42 2FG att and 27 pts via 23 3FG att.
The loss greatly reduces Millikin's chances of hosting the CCIW tournament, but they are still in good shape standings-wise.
The win was big for Wheaton, keeping them a step ahead of Elmhurst and Carthage.
Incidentally, I asked Millikin assistant coach Dick Marshall how Cecily Aldridge's injured hand was coming along. He reported that Cecily wants to play now, but that the medical opinion is for her to wait, to allow more healing. She may get back on the court toward the end of the season. When she does, the Big Blue will be even better.

[thunder38]

I'd have to rely on someone with more knowledge of Millikin that I have just from seeing them last night but is it common for Nikki Tipsword to get a majority of the second half minutes as opposed to Olya Cholewick or was that just a matchup move made last night.  I thought it was a smart move regardless as it gave Millikin one more shooter to stretch the defense and draw defenders away from Wildman in the middle.  Especially given her effectiveness to knock down the big three at several points in the first half.

I question the shooting numbers of Robert on the night.  The stat sheet had her for 1-1 from three at halftime but I know she put up a couple of long threes early in the half that were no good, one from deep left wing and the other from in front of the Thunder bench on the right wing so I think those numbers might actually be more watered down than what the stat sheet claims.  Rog perhaps you can help me out if I'm remembering that correctly.  Who knows maybe my orange-tinted glasses are making me misremember

[RogK]

Can't help you with that stage of the game, thunder38illini.
I was chewing nachos at that point, which pretty much sapped my powers of concentration.

[bblover]

In the past, I have kept some of my own stats. When I did this, I also found some discrepancies like what you mentioned with respect to shots missed. First of all, it is an impossible job especially for one person. Even the very best mess up. From what I have seen (and you might imagine), the running scores are the primary focus of the person keeping track, and I have never seen an error there. For the most part (like 99% of the time), the correct players are credited with scoring, but every so often, there can be errors; with the players help, coaches can and will typically correct these after the game. Minutes played are usually within a minute or so of the truth, but I have seen discrepancies of 5 minutes and more; they simply miss a substitute, and do not catch the error for a few minutes. Watch out when both coaches makes mass substitutions at the same time, say in a rout; there will be a lot of 'unusual' stats. Rebounds, especially defensive are usually pretty accurate, but turnovers, steals, and assists are often far off the mark. With respect to these three key stats, it often depends on the person who keeps track.  

[Mr. Ypsi]

YIKES!  At the Shirk, IWU was held to FOURTEEN points in the first half!

Carthage led by 14 at the half; they are now up 50-41 w/ 6 to go.  The big difference: Carthage is a blistering 9 of 13 from deep; the Titans are an ice-cold 2 for 16.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In B'town: Carthage 63, IWU 55.

The Titans shot horribly (how much was Carthage defense, and how much was just an off night, I don't know): 5 of 23 from deep, and only 14 of 40 even from inside the arc.  Carthage had a respectable 13 of 28 from short range, and a blistering 9 of 14 from long range.

[Hoosier Titan]

In B'town: Carthage 63, IWU 55.

The Titans shot horribly (how much was Carthage defense, and how much was just an off night, I don't know): 5 of 23 from deep, and only 14 of 40 even from inside the arc.  Carthage had a respectable 13 of 28 from short range, and a blistering 9 of 14 from long range.

It was a combination of both, Mr. Y.  Carthage played very well at both ends of the court.  The Lady Reds have learned the Titans' style and play it at tempo.  I don't believe it's their preferred pace (they committed 31 turnovers), but their torrid shooting carried them through.

What to say about the play of the Titans?  Not very many good things.  The first score of the game was a two-point basket by Olivia Lett, and then five minutes in Karen Solari hit one of two free throws.  With more than ten minutes gone, the Titan offense had scored exactly THREE points.  Missed layups, balls dribbled off one's own feet, dangerous cross-court passes picked off.  It was a nightmare.  The Titans were fortunate to be down only 14 at the half.

The Titan press finally got going in the second half (once the gap had reached 19!), and they were able to tie the game at 37 (a typical halftime score for them) with 10:49 to go.  But they were unable to take the lead; the Lady Reds pulled away again with several well-timed threes and too much energy had been expended just getting back.  It was a well-earned victory for Carthage, although the Titans helped them along a bit.

Individually, Heather Gilmore impressed for the Lady Reds with 19 points and Diana Jacklin had 10 points and 11 rebounds.  Olivia Lett's 16 points kept the Titans in the game.  The Titans shot 30.7% overall, 21.7% on threes, for the game; the Lady Reds shot 52.4% and 60% on threes.  Carthage coach Tim Bernero said an interesting thing in the story here on d3hoops--he said that the Lady Reds' 31 turnovers were to be expected "because we were playing their game", and that's true.  The trouble for the Titans was that, when they are playing their game, they should score between 70 and 80 points.  A mixture of outstanding shooting from the Lady Reds and a no-good, rotten, miserable, very bad day in almost every respect for the Titans produced the result.

Sunday Morning edit:  The Titans' post-season prospects (including the CCIW tourney) look a lot bleaker if they have any more spells like yesterday's first half.  Wake-up call, ladies.

[scorow]

My daughter is a high school player and just started looking at some D3 schools. We noticed that Wheaton currently has an assistant as Acting Head Coach. We wondered if anyone knew why Coach Baker is not coaching this season and whether she is expected to return. Thanks in advance for any info.