WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Last night, IWU's Mallory Heydorn was going to give it a go with her new cast, but the conference tournament officials told IWU that Mallory's cast was a danger to other players.  I've never heard of that before...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/02/24/sports/doc45dfc844d5d5b674830896.txt

[Titan Q]

I am surprised that IWU's Sarah Bull, who finished 10th in league scoring (13.1 ppg), didn't make the All-CCIW squad.  She had 19 & 6 last night...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/wbb2007/wcciw2.htm

[Hoosier Titan]

It should be noted that the score in the Pantagraph article is incorrect--the writer transposed digits in Millikin's score.  The correct score was 83-67.  Millikin played tough, but the Titans were on fire at both ends of the court.

Great team effort for the Titans last night, with all five starters in double figures.  Everyone was expecting Heydorn to start until about 10 minutes before game time.  It was a strange decision on the referee's part.  Earlier in the season an Elmhurst player was allowed to play with a much more substantial cast on her arm. 

In the end, the way it played out was probably the best for the Titans:  no one thought about Mallory not playing for very long, and by winning big without her, they should have gotten a big confidence boost.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to NPU's two All-CCIW players: Senior guard Laura Mount (first team) and junior forward Evie Peterson (second team)!

[RogK]

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[Illinihoops4]

Did Heydorn have a plaster cast on or a rubberized? The difference between the two is incredible. It's a shame she was not allowed to play though. It's a tough call for the officials to make.

Congrats to all who made the all-conference teams and to Coach Baker as well.

Best of luck to both teams today!

[Jim Matson]

Wheaton women defeated Illinois Wesleyan 54-49 to grab the conference AQ.  The women also won the CCIW title.

[Mr. Ypsi]

By my calculations IWU will have a 10.083 QOWI and .833 in-region winning %.  They should be pretty safe for a pool C.

[Fawkes316]

I would expect to see Illinois Wesleyan in the tourney. Sarah Bull had a great game and probably made a few coaches reconsider why they didn't put her on the all-conference team.

Elizabeth Fox and Kathleen Fidelia were the stars for Wheaton, but Wheaton continues to suffer from scoring droughts that endanger their chances of staying with or ahead of other teams. Also, Wheaton was uncharacteristically terrible from the free throw line today, shooting 4-14 and were 1-12 until they made their last 3.

Wheaton has had a great three year run. They have won the conference three straight years and the tournament for two straight.

[Hoosier Titan]

Mallory Heydorn's "cast" was more tape than anything else.  It is definitely not a hard cast.  It's hard to see how Greg Oden has played the entire year for NCAA-officiated Ohio State with (apparently) far more material on his hand than Mallory has.

[Illinihoops4]

If it was tape then that's quite unfair. It also goes to show the difference in men's & women's, DI & DIII, and officials period. Unless it's a hard cast, or there was something under that tape that could cause harm, I'm not sure what the issue was. It's no different than a knee brace. Those can do some nasty damage as well......

With any luck, we'll hear IWU's name called tomorrow and perhaps with a different team of officials we'll see her on the court another time this year.

[Hoosier Titan]

Just one more observation about the decision to keep Mallory Heydorn out of the games:  the protective material was on the inner part of her hand, around the thumb and index finger.  Just how much could another player be hurt by it in that position?  If it were on the outer part of the hand I could see it, perhaps, but not in this position. 

Wheaton definitely deserved the win over the IWU team that was on the floor.  Elizabeth Fox and Kathleen Fidelia were indeed the stars.  Fidelia's shooting and her excellent defense on Claire Sheehan may have made the difference.  Both teams did look tired and they both blew some excellent chances; fatigue was almost certainly a factor on both sides.

Congratulations to Wheaton, and good luck in the NCAAs.  I hope that the NCAA powers that be will see fit to put IWU in.  If not, the bright news is that all of this year's IWU players are back next year.

[Fawkes316]

Here are the teams with QoWI over 10 who don't have a Pool A bid.

Overall   QOWI   Rk in reg   Team   Region Win%   Overall
5   11.320   1   New York University   0.920 (23-2)   23-2
9   11.000   3   Rochester   0.800 (20-5)   20-5
13   10.773   5   Williams   0.773 (17-5)   20-6
18   10.667   4   St. Lawrence   0.917 (22-2)   24-3
19   10.654   6   Maine Maritime   0.885 (23-3)   25-3
23   10.577   1   Howard Payne   0.962 (25-1)   26-1
26   10.550   4   Calvin   0.950 (19-1)   25-2
28   10.478   8   Brandeis   0.783 (18-5)   19-5
29   10.462   9   Norwich   0.885 (23-3)   24-3
31   10.440   5   Carroll   0.840 (21-4)   21-4
32   10.423   2   McMurry   0.885 (23-3)   24-3
36   10.333   3   Puget Sound   0.810 (17-4)   21-6
38   10.261   6   UW-Whitewater   0.739 (17-6)   19-7
39   10.160   10   Salve Regina   0.840 (21-4)   22-6
41   10.125   3   Oglethorpe   0.833 (20-4)   21-6
42   10.125   7   Transylvania   0.750 (18-6)   19-8
43   10.120   4   William Paterson   0.840 (21-4)   22-5
45   10.083   7   Illinois Wesleyan   0.833 (20-4)   22-5
46   10.045   6   Simpson   0.773 (17-5)   21-6
47   10.042   11   Tufts   0.708 (17-7)   18-7
48   10.040   5   Dickinson   0.840 (21-4)   22-4
49   10.038   12   Keene State   0.769 (20-6)   21-6
50   10.000   6   Oswego State   0.704 (19-8)   19-8
51   10.000   4   Randolph-Macon   0.880 (22-3)   23-4
52   10.000   7   Gustavus Adolphus   0.846 (22-4)   22-5

[Fawkes316]

Illinois Wesleyan is 19th on the list, and are tied for 15th in region winning percentage among these teams. Also, they have wins against Depauw and Wheaton (overall 2-2) who are in the tournament.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Illinois Wesleyan is 19th on the list, and are tied for 15th in region winning percentage among these teams. Also, they have wins against Depauw and Wheaton (overall 2-2) who are in the tournament.

As noted on the pool C board, Lake Forest, St. Lawrence, and either Howard Payne or McMurry will all be AQs, so IWU is actually 3 slots higher.  I'd say they are now pretty safe!

EDIT:  Making them even more safe, Oglethorpe and Tufts both lost today.