WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Congrats to Coach Kearns.  Yes, quite a record over many many seasons. 

Q, you may well be right about the Titans this year.  Of course, almost impossible to replace Lett and you mentioned this as a key many weeks back, that the Titans might well struggle in figuring out a way to replace her court sense, steals, rebounding and, of course, scoring.  This Titan team has had flashes of high-quality play, but also flashes of lacking in focus and even team identity.  Not quite all put together as a team yet, similar to the men, though the men made some good strides vs. UC, esp. with Sodemann making his impact yesterday.  The women are undersized and have some key positions with inexperienced people, esp. Baltes at PG, though she's played pretty well so far.  Agree with you that there is no go-to swing player or player on the floor who helps prevent some major breakdowns, meltdowns at times.  I think McMahon has great potential offensively and again has shown flashes at times.  But, if the Titans are prone to pressure, can't really clamp down as in the past with run and jump, and have an off-night shooting, you can see the sad result, as last night at SP.  I think consistency and some better rebounding are going to be key to stay in the CCIW race.  As I mentioned before, there's going to be much more parity this season and WC and CC seem to be the pick of the lot so far, but the Titans could still be right there.  If they can play more consistently, get the shooting and rebounding sorted out, they still have a chance to win the 6th title, IMHO, just not in the dominant fashion of the past five seasons.  They may still win the league, tie for the league, with 11-3 or 10-4, type record.  We'll see. Surely, they need more toughness, Jackson back for sure, and better overall court leadership from Gardner and Bilek, as seniors.  The biggest positive so far as been Seibring, and she's played well consistently, though she's not a dominant player as yet. 

That sure was a thrashing last night . . . hope they can get that one out of their system and get back on the winning road, still go 7-4 in pre-CCIW play, which was, afterall, the record the team had last year during this tough road of highly rated teams, preparing for league play.  But, overall, you are right and this team does not have the level of talent of Lett, Hasselbring and Solari as yet, though they may put together a championship run in CCIW in a different fashion.  We'll soon see -- esp. when playing WC and CC. 

Happy Holidays to all CCIW chatsters.

IWU70

[RogK]

Congratulations to new CCIW Player of the Week, Brittany Czaplicki of Millikin. The Big Blue beat Illinois Coll 66-61 thanks to Brittany's 21 pts, 5 rebs and 4 steals.
Carthage got out to a 36-11 lead and held on to defeat Aurora 57-45.
Central beat Augustana 51-43.
Brooke Olson scored 26 (9/15 FG incl 6 threes, 2/2 FT) and had 4 assists, 4 steals as Wheaton topped Benedictine 65-39.
I saw North Central's 110-68 win over Dominican. NC stopped pressing with 9:00 to go, but they still had 34 steals. Dominican gave it all they had and in fact were trailing only 59-50 early in the 2nd half, but fatigue seemed to become a factor and they soon fell behind substantially. NC scored a majority (56) of its points on 2FGs. Larynn Shumaker led the way, making 7 of 8 on her way to 16 pts and 10 rebs in a highly-productive 14:00.
Four other Cardinals scored in double figures.
Michelle Todd had a remarkable 8 steals in 12:00.
A side note regarding the 102-49 NC win that was discussed here last week : I was told by a ref who worked that game that NC did not press in the 2nd half, showing mercy toward the shorthanded MSOE squad.
Now a comment to you spoiled IWU fans : appreciate the efforts of your players, win or lose! You have some wonderful players on your team; they can't be perfect all the time. I have no doubt that they will do very well in the CCIW season.

[iwu70]

RogK, I hear you.  We can be analytical, critical of our teams, at times.  It's part of the analysis of the boards, I suppose.  I do greatly appreciate the efforts and skills of the IWU players and coaches . . . as they have brought us much success in the last 5-6 years . . . and much pleasure too for all IWU fans and loyalists.  Guess Q and I get a bit carried away at times, but just being the liberal arts, critical-thinking students that we are (as applied to roundball).  I, too, feel that IWU has a pretty good chance of still being right there for the CCIW crown this year, even with the difficulties, inconsistencies the team has exhibited to date.  They are a very good team, with a very different array of talents and a different approach to team identity, ways of winning this year.  It will have to be more balanced offensively and the margin for winning will be different than with a dominant player like Lett, no doubt.  Sure looks like NP, WC, and CC are all playing pretty well, and NCC and others may surprise.  I'd actually consider 7-4 in this run of very tough pre-CCIW opponents to be a pretty good outcome for the Titans.  Big, tall and strong WIAC teams are tough for the Titans to handle, as always.  I think the Titans will do better vs. most CCIW opponents.  If the Titans go 11-3 or 12-2 in CCIW play, I think they win the sixth straight title (or share it). 

Congrats to Ms. Czaplicki of MU on POW honors.  Wow, glad I don't have to spell that one very often!  I'm sure I'd just say the MU "C-lady" and let it go.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Last year the Titans went 7-4 in the pre-conference season - that year didn't turn out too badly!

Its pretty easy to get spoiled when the team has lost 4 conference games in the last five years!  But yes, we must somehow resist that temptation.  I wouldn't be surprised if IWU loses as many CCIW games in 2013 as in the previous five years combined, but I'd still be somewhat disappointed.  In the end, I fully expect to be in the thick of the race; just not likely to have it wrapped up with 2 weeks to go!

[RogK]

Good points, Mr Ypsi.
iwu70, I go along with what you say that IWU still could be in the stage of finding its identity. These are amateur athletes and are not normally as predictable year-to-year as NBA players, for example. Also, as has been noted here several times, nonconference schedules vary in difficulty, so it's hard to analyze how the league's teams rate compared to each other thus far.
It could very well be that the CCIW coaches' pre-season rankings will turn out to be exactly correct. Or, there may be a surprise or two. IWU's nonconference losses may be disappointing, but by no means should they be discouraging. Way too early for any team to be discouraged.

[RogK]

Elmhurst 70, Alma 50 : The Bluejays got 18 points (6/10 2FG, 6/8 FT) from Stephanie Mitchell and 11 pts, 11 rebounds from Nikki Moan. That's a positive indicator of additional depth among EC's big players.
The latest D3Hoops rankings include four CCIW teams (IWU, Carthage, Wheaton, North Park) although none in the top 25.

[Gregory Sager]

The latest D3Hoops rankings include four CCIW teams (IWU, Carthage, Wheaton, North Park) although none in the top 25.

Even so, having four CCIW teams receive votes is a very good accomplishment. It's not something that's happened all too often for the CCIW in women's basketball.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I was moderately surprised that defending national champion IWU fell out of the national poll completely from #18, having lost AT ranked UWSP.  On the other hand, they were trounced, and it was their fourth loss.  Last year, they fell out of the top 25 by week ONE!

Last year turned out pretty well!  

As we have no one threatening to be the national POY and save our bacon, I am NOT predicting a repeat title (or even necessarily final four or sweet sixteen).  I WILL predict that the Titans make it back to CCIW contention, and a tourney bid.

[Backseat Driver]

The latest D3Hoops rankings include four CCIW teams (IWU, Carthage, Wheaton, North Park) although none in the top 25.

Even so, having four CCIW teams receive votes is a very good accomplishment. It's not something that's happened all too often for the CCIW in women's basketball.

Could this be the result of voters not being sure which team is the CCIWs best so far? I think the league has produced enough nationally-competitive teams over the years to have earned respect (especially with 2 national titles in 7 years), so voters assume that the CCIW has a top 25 team, though they disagree amongst themselves as to which team that is. Thoughts on that? I'm not trying to diminish the accomplishment, but that was a question that popped into my head right away.

[Titan Q]

Now a comment to you spoiled IWU fans : appreciate the efforts of your players, win or lose! You have some wonderful players on your team; they can't be perfect all the time. I have no doubt that they will do very well in the CCIW season.

Rog, I don't think questioning IWU's overall 2012-13 talent level (and projected competitiveness in the CCIW this year) makes me a "spoiled IWU fan", or means that I don't "appreciate the efforts" of the players. 

The Titans lost by 23 at home to DePauw and by 35 at UW-Stevens Point, as well as losing three other games so far in the non-conference.  I've watched three games online and just don't think they have enough talent to be a great team this year.  I'd like to think I can express my honest opinion while at the same time being a fan of the Titans and appreciating the efforts of the players.

[iwu70]

Basiically agree with Q's second paragraph above.  Talent level of the Titans this year may be an issue, we'll see.  Lots of basketball to be played.  I, too, feel there are probably 2 CCIW teams that will be top 25 in the coming season, but just not sure which ones yet.  NP going undefeated so far will surely be challenged.  WC and CC are playing well, as is NCC and its new system at times.  Not quite sure what to make of MU yet.  So, my feeling is that whichever team emerges from the tough CCIW schlog, will of course be considered one of the better teams in the country, likely a top 25 team in due course.  Could be that the top CCIW teams are much closer together this year and may beat up on each other, so the league could be won with 11-3 or 10-4 this year.  Of course, I hope the very tough pre-CCIW run of games that the Titans have had will help them be ready, as in past years, for the CCIW race.  But, there are clearly things to attend to for Coach Smith and her team.  I have faith and trust that they will be attended to and that the Titans will be very ready for the CCIW race come early January. 

Still no word on what happened to Shelby Jackson @ WI-SP . . . and the loss of K. Reaber is a pretty big loss, which will lead to many more minutes by Kaitlyn Mullarkey, a very promising freshman at PG, but a freshman nonetheless, . . and/or other untested IWU newbies.  Titans still have a very strong and talented core in Gardner, Bilek, McMahon, Seibring, Baltes and Jackson, with Scurlock and Mullarkey now in the rotation.  This team is quick, good, and can score on the good nights.  Gotta have more consistency on offense and more results from the defensive side.  Rebounding is going to be an issue all year.  I still think they will be right there contending for the CCIW title come mid-February. 

Happy holidays all!

IWU70

[RogK]

Titan Q, in the national championship game in March, Lexi played 36:00, more than any other Titan. Melissa Gardner played 28:00, Michelle Bilek and Shelby Jackson 17:00 each, Colleen McMahon 16:00. If any of them had any significant flaws, IWU would not have won. I just think it's too early to count them out this season and to be looking forward to better recruits next year.
Millikin didn't do real well the season after they won the national title; we'll see how the Titans end up. I think they'll be very good. One thing that could be an issue : in the two worst losses, they were not able to cause turnovers. DePauw committed only 11 and Stevens Point only 16.

[RogK]

Augustana outrebounded Dominican 58-18 and outscored them 73-42. Molly Etheridge had 10 rebs.
Carthage improved to 7-2 via a 62-55 win at Coe. Coe was ahead 25-18, but Carthage then ran off 19 in a row and never looked back (well, maybe a glance). Stephanie Kuzmanic had 17 pts, 8 assists and 5 steals. Cailee Corcoran (6/10 FG, 7/8 FT) scored 19.

[RogK]

Maybe I can be less combative, Titan Q. Can't you see being more optimistic than your earlier post indicated regarding this season? The Titans' veteran core of players has proven to be good under playoff pressure and the newer/secondary players can improve as this season progresses. Oui? Non?

[Gregory Sager]

NPU is in Santa Cruz, CA this week, playing Pacific (6-1) later this afternoon and UC-Santa Cruz (7-3) tomorrow afternoon ... and neither game will be covered by live stats. UCSC doesn't have them. What, you sell twenty thousand Banana Slugs t-shirts on the Internet every year, and yet you still can't afford to have live stats like most of the rest of D3? Come on, UCSC!

(Can you tell I'm a spoiled fan?)

I guess that I and every other NPU fan will just have to keep checking back to the UCSC website an hour and a half following tipoff to wait for a result.