WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

IWU up 33-13 over Millikin with 8 minutes to go in the first half.  Melissa Gardner having a big night from treyville, will 4 threes already. 

Score from Carthage anyone?

IWU70

http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/livestats/wb/xlive.htm

[iwu70]

Thanks, Q.  Wowza.  Looks like Carthage has that game truly in hand too!  Gotta love being two games up on the field after the first turn.

Lett and Gardner are lighting it up at The Shirk tonight.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Titans up about 20 with 4:00 minutes or so to go.  Lett 22, Gardner 16, Shelby Jackson with a big night 15, and 6-7 rebounds.  7-0 Titans, Keep in rolling.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Naperville:

North Park 62
North Central 50

Roxie Jones: 19 pts, 9 rebs, 4 stls
Sarah Peterson: 14 pts, 12 rebs, 5 stls, 3 blocks

Maryssa Cladis: 11 pts
Helen Muleya: 10 pts

It was a fairly close, if not exceptionally well-played, game for most of the way, until NPU pulled away down the stretch. A lotta runs in this one: NCC went on a 15-point skein in the first half to flip a 10-3 North Park lead to an 18-10 Cards advantage, and then the Vikings immediately came roaring back with seven straight points of their own. But the most important runs came in the second half; with the Cards enjoying their biggest lead of the second half at 33-28 with 14:47 to go, the interior combo of Roxie Jones and Sarah Peterson started clicking for the Vikes, as the royal blue and gold scored nine unanswered points over the next three and a half minutes to take a lead that they would never relinquish. Finally, with NPU clinging to a 43-41 advantage with nine minutes to go, freshman Dominikque Williams of North Park buried a trey from the corner that set the Vikes off on a 12-0 run that basically put the game away.

North Park didn't shoot particularly well, especially from the free throw line, where the Vikes were an absymal 15-26 (58%). But they had so many more possessions than did the Cards that they could afford a truckload of misses. The Vikings took advantage of 21 NCC turnovers (14 of them NPU steals) and a +4 rebounding advantage (including a whopping 18-10 advantage on the offensive boards) to get off ten more FG attempts and ten more FT attempts than the hosts.

NPU freshman Annie Shain had to be helped off the floor after taking a hard foul in the second half. Sure hope she's OK.

Didn't sound like a pretty game (I listened to the WONC broadcast while following live stats), and my pleasure as a North Park fan in the win is mitigated a bit by the fact that, after all, NCC is in last place for a reason. But, still, a win's a win, and it's especially nice to pick up another one on the road. Kudos to the North Park women for getting the job done tonight.

[Backseat Driver]

Wheaton 78
Augustana 67

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2012/1/25/WBB_aug1.aspx

Wheaton:
Lindsey Brenneman- 15 points
Elisabeth Potts- 14 Points
Laura Karsten- 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Brooke Olson- 11 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Augustana:
Chaney Tambling- 13 points, 4 rebounds
Natalie Runge- 12 points, 7 rebounds
Molly Etheridge- 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists

The Thunder shot 45% from beyond the arc, continuing its impressive run. It really is remarkable that after how poorly Wheaton shot the three in its first two games, it now leads the league at 40%. Augie dominated the boards, 40-28, and collected 14 offensive rebounds. Looks as though Wheaton led by 6-8 points throughout the game.

[Backseat Driver]

Halfway home:

Wesleyan 7-0 (14-4)
Carthage 5-2 (14-4)
Elmhurst 5-2 (14-4)
Wheaton 5-2 (12-6)
Millikin 3-4 (11-7)
NPU 2-5 (8-10)
Augie 1-6 (9-9)
NCC 0-7 (6-12)

I was pretty sure coming into the season that IWU was still the top dog, and that's proven to be the case so far. In the 2-4 logjam, Elmhurst has beaten Wheaton at home, Wheaton has beaten Carthage at home, and Carthage has beaten Elmhurst at home. Millikin still has a shot at a tourney spot, but they face some tough sledding to get there.

I'm interested to see how Wheaton plays on Saturday vs. IWU. They didn't put their best foot forward in Bloomington by any stretch. The Titans are on some kind of roll right now, and it will take a really great performance by the Thunder--and maybe a bit of King Arena magic--to derail them. Wheaton has played really well at home in CCIW play so far.

[RogK]

Hey Greg, I read your report on the NP/NC game and noticed your statement that NP had a lot more possessions than did NC. I've always thought that an offensive rebound extends the existing possession, but you seem to interpret that it starts a new possession.
Under my definition, each team would always have the same number of possessions in a game, give or take one. Theoretically, one possession could last 20:00, if the team that wins the tip keeps missing shots and gets all of the rebounds.
I've heard broadcasters say the same thing you did. I thought a possession doesn't end until one starts for the other team.

[Roundball999]

Hey Greg, I read your report on the NP/NC game and noticed your statement that NP had a lot more possessions than did NC. I've always thought that an offensive rebound extends the existing possession, but you seem to interpret that it starts a new possession.
Under my definition, each team would always have the same number of possessions in a game, give or take one. Theoretically, one possession could last 20:00, if the team that wins the tip keeps missing shots and gets all of the rebounds.
I've heard broadcasters say the same thing you did. I thought a possession doesn't end until one starts for the other team.

The existence of the shot clock, and all its implications, tends to make me think of each renewal of the shot clock as a new possession.  But that may not have any relation to the official definition of a possession 

[RogK]

Roundball999, I don't know if there is any official definition. I suspect it's more of an informal term that means different things to different people.

[iwu70]

BackSeatDriver, re:  "half way home," I agree with you that IWU has turned out to be the class of the field so far.  I also thought earlier that they would reload, not rebuild this year.  They just had too many good players remaining, esp. Lett and Gardner, and also great bench/role players and an excellent coach, to drop too far from that four-year group of the past era, the group that got all the way to the "home Final Four!"  They are playing well, on a big roll now.  I think WC will have to put up a very good performance this weekend to derail them and try to climb back into the race, get closer to IWU in the standings.  Key performance last night was an excellent one by Shelby Jackson with 18 points and good rebounding.   If Solari and Jackson are playing well, anchoring and solidifying the post area, then the Titans are extra tough.  They've always been good this year on the perimeter, on the run, in the "run and jump", from treyland, and in percentage shooting from the field and the line.  The post area is really improving and Solari, Jackson and Amy Burton are keys to really keeping that up with all the other advantages the Titans have, even with Lett leading in the rebounding category.  Fun to watch when you have the superb consistency of Lett and Gardner, then others each game stepping up and surprising folks with their play.  Lexi Baltes also had an excellent line, performance last night, too.  We'll see this weekend.  One big remaining challenge of course is the Carthage game at Kenosha.  I also expected Carthage to put a big slammer on the EC team this past game, and they surely did.  IWU vs. Carthage, that will be one of the best games of the year, just as it was here in The Shirk.

Congrats to the Titans, esp. to Coach Smith and to Olivia Lett, on the perfect record through the first go-round of the CCIW schedule.  Let's keep it rolling.

GO TITANS.  I'd love to see the 5th championship in a row!

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

Roundball999 is right, Rog. When the ball touches the rim or passes through the cylinder in a live-ball situation, the shot clock is cleared by the shot-clock operator. Clearing the shot clock indicates that the possession is over. Any missed shot, of course, is a free ball (i.e., no de facto possession), whether it hits the rim or not, until one team or the other establishes control of the ball -- even if it's a wink-of-the-eye possession on a tip-in. But a cleared shot clock definitively ends the possession in the technical sense. Possession continues in a legal sense if the missed shot does not hit the rim, although that's really a rule that's less about the concept of possession and more about penalizing the shooter's team for missing so badly (by forcing it to continue on a running shot clock) if it gains the offensive rebound.

This is from page 60 of the NCAA men's and women's basketball rulebook:

Section 55. Rebound
Art. 1. A rebound is an attempt by any player to secure possession of the ball after a try for goal. In a rebounding situation, there is no player or team control.

Note the language. Any player can secure possession, indicating that there is no possession when the ball is in the air after a miss. In this instance, control is interpreted by the NCAA rulebook as being the defining condition of possession. When there is no control, there is no possession.

It's hard to read possession totals from a box score, because the PBP doesn't indicate whether or not a missed shot hit the rim, and there's really no way to read it statistically. A missed shot that's an airball, or that hits the backboard but not the rim, reads the same in both places as does a miss that hits the rim (and which therefore clears the shot clock and changes the possession). But it's safe to say, given the wide disparity in offensive rebounds in NPU's favor as well as the larger total of FG attempts and FT attempts, that NPU had a lot more possessions than did NCC.

(The language that I use as a broadcaster for the NPU men is actually a little misleading, in that, when an offensive rebound is gained, I usually say something to the effect of, "... and the Vikings retain possession." The term retain means "to continue possession", so that's technically inaccurate on my part. I, and a lot of other broadcasters, use retain to refer to an offensive rebound so as to verbally set apart an offensive rebound from a quick sequence of two turnovers, for which I would say, "... and the Vikings regain possession." But in the strict sense, an offensive rebound is a regaining of possession as well, not a retaining of possession. You can't retain something that you've already surrendered, and when you put up a shot you've surrendered possession by making it a free ball if it doesn't go in the basket.)

[Gregory Sager]

The word on NPU's Annie Shain is that she may have torn her ACL in Wednesday night's game. I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope things turn out all right for her.

[RogK]

That is unfortunate for Annie Shain. She has been progressing well as a freshman, steadily becoming more important for the Vikings. I wish her a good rehab and full recovery.
Thanks, Greg, for your research into the NCAA's references to the term "possession," as well as your clear and thorough comments on the issue.
I imagine that scorer's tables occasionally have to apply judgment as to how many times possession occurs in some loose ball scrambles. We've seen some where a player from one team gets the ball, but quickly coughs it up, followed by an opponent doing the same thing. If there were possessions, then turnovers have to be charged and steals might be credited. Or, it could be seen that neither team had possession during that exchange, so no turnovers would be charged.
I still like my definition for its simplicity, but I concede that I'm in the minority.

[Backer]

Agreed bummer for Annie Shain.  I've known her through high school and she's a great kid...not that an ACL tear should happen to anyone!

[iwu70]

Sorry to hear about the Annie Shain injury.  Very tough.  I wish her all the best, successful surgery if needed, and a full and speedy recovery.  Let's hope no more injuries for any of the CCIW teams or players the rest of the season.  Hope everyone can stay at full strength. 

IWU @WC should be a good game, and one that, should the Titans win, starts looking like a "driver's seat" situation, of course still leaving other tough games to come, but putting more and more distance between the Titans and the "contenders."  WC has been playing very well in recent games, so I expect a close game vs. WC on their home court.

GO TITANS . . . bring home another "W." 

IWU70