WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

1st : (all unanimous) Lett, Merklein, Brenneman, Zeigler, Jacklin.
2nd : Runge, Corcoran, Gardner, Aldridge, Karsten.
3rd : Godhardt, Hasselbring, Wellbaum, Jones, Olson.
Well done, all, including Mia Smith.
Of course there are others who just missed; an appreciative pat on their heads too.

[iwu70]

Congrats again to all the All-CCIW honorees.   Nice that the first team was completely "unanimous."   Coaches did a pretty good job, IMHO.  RogK, yes, a few very deserving players just missed out . . .

Lots of good players returning, so the league will again be strong next year.  Seems WC has a lot of talent coming back.

Congrats to Coach Smith, especially, for having such a banner year under very difficult circumstances with her health.  Five outright CCIW championships in a row . . . an incredible achievement, given all the good coaches and talented teams in the CCIW, and the extremely tough schedule that the Titans played this season. 

IWU will be, in some ways, Gardner's team next year, though many many others will contribute, compete, defend and score.  Championships can again be won with defense. "A new mix for six!?"    Run and jump endures.  There's no mystery now to what will be coming from the Titans on the defensive end.

Titans can, IMHO, reload, not rebuild again.  But, key will be the further development and improvement of the current sophomore group.  Titans again have 3-4 starters, near starters returning in Gardner, Jackson, McMahon, Bilek and Baltes, and some other good role players coming back.  Lots of experience and playing time coming back, but of course hard to replace the scoring and PG, ball-handling duties of Lett and Hasselbring.  Need more strength, skill and scoring in the post area.  Of course, difficult to replace Lett and Hasselbring -- they are the rock solid, consistent pieces of this very successful Titan team this season.  Hope we can win the tourney and have a good, long run in the DIII dance.  Would love another shot at UC, Whitewater, and/or DePauw.  Could happen . . .

Godhardt has a HUGE upside . . . what a year for her, as a freshman.  Wish she was a Titan!

IWU70

[RogK]

iwu70, let Elmhurst keep Godhardt! They need her. She is remarkably quick on her feet, as you no doubt observed when she tallied 26 in the game at Shirk. She's rather good as is, but could be even tougher to guard if she can develop 3FG range (2 for 10 this year). Ten attempts is a very small sample, so who knows.
Fellow freshman Fiona McMahon also put together a good debut, particularly in the rebounds and blocked shots categories. She and Tess could be very good players through March of 2015.
Elmhurst may see the return (from some sort of leg surgery) of Kim Schwerdtmann, who was perhaps the CCIW's fastest runner prior to injury.
The Bluejay offense will no longer have Merk and Ney to rely on, so they'll (obviously) ask others to shoot more.
One possible source of points may be Nikki Shaffer, who made 8 of 15 3FGs, admittedly another small sample. Closer to the hoop, though, she was 27/73. If she can hit 30-40 pct of 3FGs, keep her behind the arc! (sorry, that's the Olivet Nazarene way of thinking)

[Gregory Sager]

I'm disappointed that Roxie Jones of NPU only made third team. Given the fact that she was fourth in the league in scoring and fifth in rebounding, not to mention second in steals as well as ranked in a few other categories, that's a rather paltry placement for her. Again, as with the men's side, this plays up the fact that where a team finishes plays a huge role in how the All-CCIW team, which is ostensibly an honor that recognizes individual achievement, is put together.

That aside, congrats to Roxie on making the team.

[RogK]

Representation on, and placement within, the all-CCIW list is not exactly tied to team wins : Millikin (7-7) got three players, but Carthage (10-4) got two. If it was proportioned to wins, Dani Ripkey or Allison Groessl would be on in lieu of Wellbaum.

[thunder38]

The reigns might of tightened a big on IWU's Pool C chances a little tonight even thought a few were expected.  Teams now needing Pool C that will get to the table potentially ahead of IWU:

UW-River Falls- we knew two of the 3 WIAC's would need a Pool C
University of New England- Pool C lock that just burst a bubble somewhere by falling to Endicott.

The WIAC will expectedly burst another bubble with their championship when Stevens Point and Whitewater matchup.  Perhaps the bigger bubble burst will come if Whitewater is able to win since UWSP seems to be a Pool C lock while there's some conversation to be had about Whitewater.

Also the NWC will do the same when George Fox and Lewis and Clark meet up for the championship.

However, there's also a little more room on the bubble with Occidental's loss lengthening their Pool C odds.

[thunder38]

Audio for the first semi-final game can be found at
http://www2.wheaton.edu/learnres/mediares/WETN/wetn_livewindow/WETN-TV.html

Is there going to be video available for the first semifinal?

[Backseat Driver]

Audio for the first semi-final game can be found at
http://www2.wheaton.edu/learnres/mediares/WETN/wetn_livewindow/WETN-TV.html

Is there going to be video available for the first semifinal?

Yes: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/iwu.portal#

[Hoosier Titan]

RE:  broadcasts from Shirk.

This from iwusports.com:

Live stats and streaming video will be available for all games at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/iwu.portal and IWU games will be broadcast on WESN (FM) radio.

[iwu70]

RogK, yes, I was most impressed with Godhardt.  Tremendous upside, I would think.

Hope the Titans take care of business at home, don't need to worry about pool C vagaries.

This next year may be a year where some newbies, new recruits play a bigger role in the improvement of the various top teams.  IWU will need to replace scoring by Lett, though I think Baltes will be an excellent replacement at the PG position for Britt Hasselbring.  Gardner, Bilek and McMahon will be asked to score more.  Key will be the development of post area players, esp. Shelby Jackson.  Titans may shift even more to "run and jump" style, win whilst scoring less.  Will be interesting to see.

But now, let's get to the Dance and make a good long run.

IWU70

[RogK]

Good luck to all four teams tonight. Have fun, no injuries, relax, play flawlessly, don't screw up! The refs will be expected to start perfect and improve throughout the game. Coaches, please do not tell the players to "leave it all on the floor"; someone might intrepret that as instruction to vomit.

[Backseat Driver]

Carthage 70
Wheaton 64

I was only able to watch the first half, and Wheaton was up 30-26 at the break. Carthage began a 15-0 run at 13:48 and the Thunder didn't convert another field goal until 3:36. Carthage led by 16 with three minutes left before Wheaton whittled it down to a three-point deficit with 1:25 left, but wasn't able to complete the furious comeback.

Since I didn't watch the whole game, I can't add much insight. Congrats to Carthage for the hard-earned victory. It looks like Dani Ripkey had a great game, 20 points with 6-9 three-pointers. The Lady Reds move one step closer to the NCAA tournament.

Wheaton concludes another fine season at 18-8. It's always hard to say goodbye to seniors, and this year is no different. This group has a lot to be proud of.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU demolishes Millikin, 96-74, so Carthage @ IWU for the AQ.

If I were more confident about Pool C (WashU and TWO WIAC schools will be at the table before IWU would be, as of the last rankings we'll see before selection), I'd almost be tempted to root for Carthage so the conference gets two teams in.  But, especially since the men are now looking VERY iffy, I want that assured bid!  Go Titans!

[Backseat Driver]

It should be a great battle between IWU and Carthage tomorrow. I wish Wheaton was playing, but it will be a good game to watch nonetheless. Two very evenly-matched teams.

[iwu70]

Great comeback by Carthage to beat WC.  Carthage hit treys like mad in the second half, Jacklin had a huge game, is the real deal.

Titans cruise over MU, 96-74.  Led by 30 in the first half, and this game's margin could have been 30, even 40.  Lett and the starters just took over the game easily out of the blocks.  All the IWU top rotation was resting on the bench with 10 minutes to play, and the third five of IWU got to play the final 6 minutes of the game.

Olivia Lett just continues to amaze.  Strong games again tonight by Hasselbring, Gardner, Bilek, Solari and McMahon.  Run and jump was all over MU.  They had no answer.

Should be a great championship game -- CC vs. IWU at 7 p.m. Saturday evening, with the AQ on the line.  Carthage is a very good team. 

IWU70