WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

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[Gregory Sager]

Big congrats to NPU's Laura Mount, who joined the Thousand Point Club this evening as she led the Vikings to a 51-50 win over Elmhurst. Her 19 points gives her 1,006 for her career. She joins her former teammates, NPU class of '06 graduates Megan Slattery and Shandrel Young, in the exclusive club.

Evie Peterson added 14 points and 8 boards for the Vikes. The Bluejays were led by Candice Sutton with 16 and Brittany Bobruk with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

[RogK]

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[Illinihoops4]

The Augie/MU game was a game in which that stats don't tell the story. It was a greatgame! With the exception of the Carthage game, there is a noticeable difference in this Augustana squad. The area they fall short in is post defense (and you can bet they'll be focusing on that). Augie was down by as many as 17 and came back to tie it with 8 something on the clock. They went to a 5 guard line up to get back in the game.

This is a squad that honestly doesn't have a lot of experience. They don't even have an all-conference player.They're coming along and I don't think it's going to be easy to get a win in the Carver Center in the next few weeks. This team has fight- something AC hasn't seen in that program for quite some time. Ippel got her avg. plus some- she's going to. She's a good player. Minus the fouls to stop the clock at the end of the game- it's a 5-6 point ball game. Something no one has expected out of the vikings in at least 2 years. It's a process, but I think this coach has lit the spark. They're becoming fun to watch. Final score was 77-67.
So the bright spot was more than just Katie Engwall's 16 points. There's a lot of the past to erase  (not just on the court stuff) and that takes time.

Looking forward to the future..............

[Gregory Sager]

To add to what Greg reported above, besides fine games by Mount and Peterson, North Park's reserve (but not reserved) center Cassie Christensen had a rather favorable impact on the contest, coming up with big blocked shots and rebounds, as well as scoring four needed points. NP edged Elmhurst by just one. Stylianee Damianides continued improving her offense by driving in and getting fouled, earning 7 FT attempts. Mary Surridge raised her coaching record to .500; husband Jack hopes to be back at the helm Saturday.

Yes, Cassie Christensen did a terrific job off of the bench for NPU. Considering the thinness of the North Park roster, as well as the team's relative lack of height, I'd like to see her get a consistent spread of minutes in the future. It was especially gratifying to see her hold her own in crunch time.

NPU has to live on the razor's edge every night, especially after losing Lauren Martin to a knee injury for the second year in a row. Not only do the Vikings lack depth, they've now lost their best outside shooter. That will make it even harder for the Park to keep defenses honest. It's encouraging to see sophomore Stylianee Damianides step up as a third option alongside Laura Mount and Evie Peterson, especially since Damianides has a knack for getting to the FT line (where she's 11-13 in CCIW play thus far). But Martin will certainly be missed on a team that's already ranked last in the league in scoring. NPU is an outstanding defensive team, but you still have to put the ball in the basket at the other end of the floor in order to win.

[RogK]

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[RogK]

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[Hoosier Titan]

IWU just toppled Wheaton using 4 guards primarily. Can anyone give us a firsthand report on that one?  The low number of fouls (27 total) tells me that the refs didn't call everything, which tends to keep the score down.

Rog,

It was a very enjoyable game to watch; a classic contrast of styles featuring Wheaton's size and strength against IWU's quickness and athleticism.  I remember thinking just after halftime that I would be glad I was there even if IWU lost, so I don't think I'm too biased in my reporting.

There are always a few inconsistencies or missed calls in a game, but I don't think the officiating had anything to do with the outcome of this one.  Each team's leading scorer--Wheaton's Jill Trenz and IWU's Sarah Bull--had 19 points, with Trenz's coming primarily in the paint and Bull's from all over--she had 4 2's and 3 3's.  The lead never got over 7 points, and Wheaton was ahead by that much in both halves, so it was always close. 

If there was one factor which tipped the balance, it appeared to be some fatigue on Wheaton's part.  The players looked tired and seemed to slow down in the last few minutes; Trenz's last two free throw attempts were clearly those of a tired player. 

Two good coaches made the most of the abilities of their players, making for a close and exciting game.  It wasn't pretty--45 turnovers--but it was intense and intelligently played.
Can't wait for the rematch at Wheaton!

[Illinihoops4]

RogK- My bad. I miss read your post. I didn't mean to come off harsh though. My apologies. There are a lot of aspects of the game that don't show up on the stat sheet. I'm just pulling for the underdog. They really are building from the bottom up. It's great to see the enthusiasm growing with these young ladies. They're finding their passion for the game again. Consistency is key.

The 5 guard line up worked well for AC. At times, Ippel ended up guarding the point guard- not an ideal match- up. I hope to see more of that offense. I'm looking forward to catching IWU's version.

Looking forward to some great games this weekend. Anyone have any info on NCC?

[RogK]

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[Titan Q]

A big game this afternoon for the 4-0 (14-1) Titans who travel to 3-2 North Park (11-4).  IWU is very fun to watch with their 4 guard starting lineup and 3-point attack -- they remind me of the U. of Chicago men's team.  (And like the Maroon men, they are vulnerable to an outing where the 3's aren't falling.)  IWU's top 3 scores are all guards who shoot the 3 really well:

Sarah Bull (5-8, Jr.): 35-84 (.417)
Claire Sheehan (5-7, So.): 35-80 (.425)
Mallory Heydorn (5-7, So.): 46-105 (.438)


The Titans play great perimeter defense.  On the season, opponents have 179 assists and 398 turnovers.  That opponent A:TO ratio of 0.45 is about as good as you will find.

After losing their best two low post players to injury in the first weeks of the season, Thea Rogers has really emerged as their one consistent player around the hoop (8.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg).  It seems like when Thea is playing well, the Titans are very hard to beat.

The IWU/NPU game will be on WJBC, AM-1230 at 2:45pm:

http://www.wjbc2.com/

[titan30]

Titans win 66-55 over North Park.  IWU shot only 29%, but made up the difference with their rebounding and free throws.  It will be fun to watch the game against Augie on Tuesday for the guard match-ups. 

[Illinihoops4]

Augie fell to NCC today. Katie Engwall turned in another great performance off the bench scoring 23 points. NCC's size caused some problems for the vikings once again. Tinkoff shot 23 free throws by herself to Augie's team total of 24 FT's. It was not a well officiated game in my opinion. I did over hear the coach tell her players that it was not their job to worry about the officials. They only had to worry about what they could control and that was they way they played defense and the way they executed their offense.
The staff was not happy at all with their defensive effort in the post. It's been mentioned before that post defense is a serious concern. Since the team isn't going to gain any size this season I'm anxious to see how they bounce back. I feel Augie was the better team, but the missing pieces on this squad are vital one's.
On another note, I've paid particular attention to the coaches and their staffs at all the institutions over the years and I really think that Coach Bauer has some maturity issues. She had no qualms about letting everyone in the gym know how bad they felt Augie was and that they shouldn't have even been in the game. It's one thing for motivation for your players, but it was quite disrespectful. Just my two cents on that.

I won't be at IWU on Tuesday but I hope someone can fill me in on the game.

Until then, Go Bears!

[atn alum]

I have joked to our publisher that I should auction off my #1 vote in this week's d3hoops.com Top 25...

I must admit that I don't know which way to go.

There are arguably 7-8 deserving teams, and whose to say of the 1-loss squads remaining, that one is more deserving than the other.

I'm guessing there are a few folks who feel we've shortchanged IWU this year..anyone out there with a legit argument as to why I should change things up a bit and move them way, way up?

[Hoosier Titan]

I'm guessing there are a few folks who feel we've shortchanged IWU this year..anyone out there with a legit argument as to why I should change things up a bit and move them way, way up?

Atn,

I tend not to put a lot of stock in where my teams are ranked, exactly.  It has seemed a bit odd, however, to see DePauw, whom the Titans beat by 9 in the second game of the season when Depauw was ranked #3, stay in the top ten while IWU is ranked in the high teens.  I suppose the rap is "Who have they beaten?" The answer, now that CCIW play is underway, is Millikin and Wheaton, two teams still receiving votes.  The Millikin win, by 19 points on Millikin's court, was particularly impressive, with pre-season all-American Lindsay Ippel held to 16 points. 

The Titans lost two key post players, Brianna Baker-Carvell and Christina Solari, to ACL injuries early on.  What's impressive is the way coach Mia Smith has used her remaining players.  The usual starting lineup contains four guards; three (Sarah Bull, point Mallory Haydorn, and Claire Sheehan) are averaging in double figures.  Last week at Elmhurst, Crystal Dye had a breakout game, scoring 21 points and pulling in 7 rebounds.   

I haven't seen the teams ranked above IWU, so I can't and won't tell you how to vote.  I have watched a lot of basketball in my life, and I've rarely seen a group so personally unselfish; willing to dig in and play a team game.  They dive after loose balls, play defense, and if someone's having an off day, the others take over.  They're a lot of fun to watch, and I look for them to surprise some teams in a few weeks.