WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

In Carthage's 77-50 win over Clarke, Cailee Corcoran played very well (as usual!) : 7/10 FG, 6/7 FT, 5 steals in  27:00. And Haley Stercic hit 4 of 8 3FGs on her way to 14 pts in 22:00.
Backseat Driver, you will have opportunity to see a CCIW team (not Wheaton, though) soon in the Banana Slugs' gym; North Park plays there on Dec 19 and 20.

[Backseat Driver]

In Carthage's 77-50 win over Clarke, Cailee Corcoran played very well (as usual!) : 7/10 FG, 6/7 FT, 5 steals in  27:00. And Haley Stercic hit 4 of 8 3FGs on her way to 14 pts in 22:00.
Backseat Driver, you will have opportunity to see a CCIW team (not Wheaton, though) soon in the Banana Slugs' gym; North Park plays there on Dec 19 and 20.

As fate would have it, I'll be in Chicago visiting family on those days.

[Gregory Sager]

I am interested to see how North Park does against Chicago. The Maroons have lost by double digits to Carthage, Wheaton, and IWU, so I think this could be a winnable game for NPU--though, admittedly, it is tough to make projections based on other teams' results.

NPU lost to Chicago by 16 last season. The Maroons never pulled away, but the Vikings never threatened them, either.

NPU is 4-0, but the Vikings haven't really played any quality teams yet. Chicago will be the best team that NPU's faced thus far this season.

[badgerwarhawk]

My exposure to Chicago is limited.  They scrimmaged the WARHAWKS earlier.  But my impression of them was that they aren't anything approaching the team they were last year.  Good luck to your women, GS. 

[iwu70]

UC, yes, a very young team, way down from the top five team of last year's UC squad.  But, pretty promising too, and with some real size -- 2-3 players at 6'2".  IWU pressed them and wore them down, kept the ball for most of the evening away from the post area.  I think NP has a good shot at beating them, but they are, for such a young team, pretty good.  I think an interim coach, right?

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

I do know that NPU head coach Amanda Reese is pretty eager to beat Chicago, since one of her most recent pre-NPU coaching gigs was as the assistant coach for the Maroons.

Plus, there's always that city-bragging-rights thing.

I won't be able to make it down to 55th and Ellis for the game, so I'm looking forward to watching NPU @ Chicago online tomorrow night.

[iwu70]

IWU @ ONU tonight, 7 p.m.  Audio and Video link on the IWU women's basketball webpage.  I'm sure it will be an up and down, wild and crazy affair, if anything like last year when the Titans set an IWU record with 124 points, or some such.  ONU averages in the 90s most years. 

IWU70

[Backseat Driver]

North Park leads Chicago 27-22 at the half.

[Gregory Sager]

The Vikings couldn't make a shot to save their lives in the first half. NPU should be up by double digits right now.

[iwu70]

Titans in trouble @ONU, down 51-39 at the half.  Pretty much letting ONU run their system, (and they have run it well), and have been subject to the ONU press, with far too many TOs, errant passes, and missed layups.  Big climb to get back.  ONU sending in players every 3-4 minutes, in waves of four-five each time and doing a good job of kicking out after penetration for treys.  Titans will have to guard the perimeter better to win this one. 

No Livestats, but a video feed, as far as I can see.

IWU70

[iwu70]

LiveStats came on . . . for ONU vs. IWU.  And, you can see what kind of trouble, with Titans committing 21 TOs in the first half, with ONU getting 15 steals off their press.  Ouch.  ONU hit 10 treys in the first half.  Indeed, looks like trouble.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 53
Chicago 51

Kayla McCall: 11 pts
Kamauria Acree: 10 pts, 12 rebs, 4 asts
Sarah Peterson: 10 pts, 6 rebs
Nicole Kruckman: 7 rebs

An agonizing nail-biter to watch, as NPU just couldn't get the ball into the basket. The Vikings shot only 29% from the field, and while I think that Chicago's length bothered them a bit, the open mid-range and long-range shots weren't falling, either. Fortunately, the Vikings managed to stay in front by a few points almost the entire game, thanks to very solid defense and a good job of minimizing their mistakes. NPU only turned the ball over 11 times to UC's 14, and the Park's hard work on the boards paid off to the tune of a 45-40 carom advantage over the bigger Maroons.

Sure wasn't pretty, but a win's a win, and NPU will take it.

NPU is now 5-0 on the year, and will face Blackburn on Friday night down in Carlinville.

[iwu70]

Congrats to NPU on their win over UC.  Sounds very exciting. 

On the Titans, well, the Titans got something of their own medicine tonight, losing to the "run and jump" ONU press, going down 81-94.  If you want to see a very strange box, look at this one . . . as ONU won with their Grinnell-like system.  ONU made 99 shot attempts, IWU attempted it 98 times.  Sadly, the Titans didn't shoot very well, had what must be close to a record 38 TOs, lots of frustration errors and, no doubt, some fatigue.  Seibring led the Titans with 18, Gardner 17.  It was hard-fought, chippy, and lots of chatter out there tonight, from players and coaches.  Pretty sure Mia Smith was not happy with the zebras tonight.   Not sure I believe this, but LiveStats had Titans winning the rebound battle with an amazing 83 RBs, with the box showing ONU with 59 total rebounds.  Bizarre, but perhaps true.  It was up and down all night, with all the penetration, then kick out for treys, full court press by ONU the entire game. 

Sadly, Kasey Reaber went down to injury in the late first half and did not return.  Looked like an ankle or knee injury as she drove to the basket.  Couldn't see it very well with the herky-jerky video feed from ONU.  Hope it's not serious as she just got back from a previous thumb injury. 

Titans now 4-3, a tough loss to a very deep and active and athletic ONU squad, wave on wave. 

In a game like this, as Q mentioned very early on in the season, the Titans really missed the solid ball-handling abilities and open court skills, court vision of Olivia Lett and Britt Hasselbring.  The Titans just didn't fully rise to the occasion tonight in handling the ONU version of run and jump. 

Final  ONU 94 IWU 81.  Titans play Thursday at St. Francis in Naperville.  More tough road challenges ahead . . . also at Stevens Point.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Wheaton over Clark tonight 60-47.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

That's actually Clarke, the NAIA school in Iowa, as opposed to Clark, the D3 school in Massachusetts.