WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Backseat Driver]

Quick look at the Hope/Wheaton matchup:

Wheaton College Thunder (22-5)
69.5 points per game
52.7 points allowed
41% team field goals
32% three-point field goals

Starters
G- Brooke Olson, 5'7" Sr.        16.0 ppg, 6.3 ppg, 3.7 apg
G- Jennifer Lee, 5'6" Sr.          4.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G- Breanna Bohlen, 5'10" Sr.  9.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg,
C- Maris Hovee, 6'1" Jr.           5.4 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.3 bpg
F- Hannah Considine, 6'0" Fr.  9.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg,

Reserves
G- Ellie Zeller, 5'8" Fr.              7.7 ppg, 4.7 ppg
F- Lauren Graham, 5'10" So.    7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
G- Moriah Reeves, 5'9" Fr.        4.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G- Maria Panaggio, 5'9" Jr.        3.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg

#2 Hope College Flying Dutch (26-1)
71.9 points per game
43.7 points allowed
41% field goals
35% three-pointers

Starters
G- Brittany Berry, 5'8" So.         6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg
G- Liz Ellis, 5'7" Sr.                   10.3 ppg, 2.0 apg
F- Courtney Kust, 5'10" Sr.       12.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg
F- Hannah Doell, 6'1" So.          5.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg
C- Meredith Kussmaul, 6'1" Sr.  6.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg

Reserves
F/C- Rebekah Llorens, 6'1" So.    7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg
G- Megan Kelley, 5'8" Jr.             4.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg
F- Maura McAfee, 6'0" Fr.            3.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg
F/C Ashley Bauman, 6'1" Sr.       3.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Hope leads the all-time series with Wheaton, 7-2. The last meeting was on Dec. 1, 2007, a 73-56 Hope victory.

[RogK]

Brittany Berry has some interesting season shooting stats : 7/27 2FG , 53/106 3FG and 14/14 FT.
The Thunder may want to assign a defender to "stick to her like glue" (or some similar adhesive) at the arc. Or at least encourage her to shoot 2s.
She also has a rather nice 66/20 assists/TO ratio. Her .078 steals per minute is good, as well.

[Backseat Driver]

Carthage College Lady Reds (23-4)
68.6 points per game
52.6 points allowed
45% field goals
37% three-pointers

Starters
G- Gabby Chapa, 5'9" Jr.               3.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G- Haley Stercic, 5'4" Jr.               8.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G- Stephanie Kuzmanic, 5-8" Jr.  13.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.7 apg
F- Kristi Schmidt, 5'9" Jr.               9.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg
F- Cailee Corcoran, 5'10" Sr.        14.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg

Reserves
C- Michelle Wenzel, 6'1" Jr. 8.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg
G- Erin Quinn, 5'8" So.       3.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg
G- Kasey Kleiner, 5'6" So.   3.4 ppg, 0.9 rpg

#7 Thomas More College Saints (27-1)
76.9 points per game
50.6 points allowed
43% field goals
35% three pointers

Starters
G- Katie Kitchen, 5'8" Sr.        11.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg
G- Allison Long, 5'5" Sr.          17.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.5 apg
G- Jill Brunsman, 5'6" Sr.         5.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg
F- Jenny Burgoyne, 5-10" So.  10.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg
F- Moriah Corey, 5'11" Jr.         5.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg

Reserves
G- Devin Beasley, 5'8" Jr.         9.0 ppg, 2.3 ppg, 2.2 apg
G- Sydni Wainscott, 5'3" So.     6.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg
F- Alexa Santamaria, 5'11' Fr.   4.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg
G- Stephanie Krusling, 5'5" So.  3.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G- Olivia Huber, 5'9" Fr.            3.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg

This is the first meeting between Carthage and Thomas More in women's basketball.

[RogK]

Some per-game averages for Thomas More :
2FG - 19.0/39.1, 3FG - 8.6/24.5, FT - 13.1/18.7;
their team assists/TO ratio is 1.3;
while they commit only 13.7 TOs per game (very good for a team that scores 76.9), they induce 25.6 TOs by opponents; I'm guessing that they must press/trap fairly often; for comparison purposes, IWU induced 25.3 TOs/g this season.
Thomas More's 24.5 3FG att/g is well above any CCIW team other than North Central and they hit a good pct, .350.

[Roundball999]

Some per-game averages for Thomas More :
2FG - 19.0/39.1, 3FG - 8.6/24.5, FT - 13.1/18.7;
their team assists/TO ratio is 1.3;
while they commit only 13.7 TOs per game (very good for a team that scores 76.9), they induce 25.6 TOs by opponents; I'm guessing that they must press/trap fairly often; for comparison purposes, IWU induced 25.3 TOs/g this season.
Thomas More's 24.5 3FG att/g is well above any CCIW team other than North Central and they hit a good pct, .350.

Not sure if Thomas More presses/traps or not, but their turnover stats (forced and margin) are very similar to Hope's.  Hope doesn't press or trap much, they just play very good ball pressure straight up man defense.  Someone told me that Thomas More and Hope were very similar in the way they played.

[RogK]

Good luck to Carthage and Wheaton. Safe bus rides, too.
If possible, block some of the opponents' free throws!

[Titan Q]

This is a video taken from someone in the stands from the final seconds of IWU's national championship game last year vs George Fox.  Olivia Lett tweeted this out on the eve of the 2013 tourney starting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnKp540xqho


Pretty cool.  What a great accomplishment.

[Backseat Driver]

#2 Hope 64
Wheaton 37

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/boxscore.aspx?id=3333&path=wbball

I wasn't able to watch this game, but the reality is that Wheaton ran into one of the best teams in the nation on its home floor. Wheaton's senior class (Brooke Olson, Breanna Bohlen, and Jennifer Lee) went from a 13-12 (6-8 CCIW) freshman year, to a 22-6 (11-3) senior year with a trip to the NCAA tournament. A big congratulations to those three as their careers come to an end. And while Carthage is certainly the favorite in the conference going into next year, Wheaton has a really solid group returning as well. It's exciting to see the Thunder program with such a bright future.

[Backseat Driver]

Carthage 72
#7 Thomas More 55

http://athletics.carthage.edu/boxscore.aspx?id=2651&path=wbball

Carthage was finally able to show how underrated they've been this year by smoking a top-10 team tonight. The Lady Reds blistered the nets, shooting 47% from the field and 50% (8-16) from beyond the arc. Next up is UW-Whitewater on their home floor. Good luck to Carthage as they move forward.

[Mr. Ypsi]

#2 Hope 64
Wheaton 37

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/boxscore.aspx?id=3333&path=wbball

I wasn't able to watch this game, but the reality is that Wheaton ran into one of the best teams in the nation on its home floor. Wheaton's senior class (Brooke Olson, Breanna Bohlen, and Jennifer Lee) went from a 13-12 (6-8 CCIW) freshman year, to a 22-6 (11-3) senior year with a trip to the NCAA tournament. A big congratulations to those three as their careers come to an end. And while Carthage is certainly the favorite in the conference going into next year, Wheaton has a really solid group returning as well. It's exciting to see the Thunder program with such a bright future.

On Wheaton's website, they have Jenn Lee listed as a junior - is that an error?

Even if she does come back, I think the loss of Olson and Bohlen will be a BIG hit - I see them fighting for third.  Carthage is gonna be tough, but I think Mia Smith will show that this year was a one year 'blip' (hard to immediately replace a national POY! ) - Titans edge out Lady Reds for first next year.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Carthage on a big, big win tonight -  vs. #7 in the country.  Keep in rolling Red people.  Many more challenges to come. 

Congrats to WC too, on a great season.  Hard to take down #2 in the country on their home floor. 

Keep it going CC!!

IWU70

[RogK]

I like the idea of Carthage's 44 pt 2nd half. In fact, I recommend it for 1st halves too!
Keep winning, Lady Reds!

[Backseat Driver]

#2 Hope 64
Wheaton 37

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/boxscore.aspx?id=3333&path=wbball

I wasn't able to watch this game, but the reality is that Wheaton ran into one of the best teams in the nation on its home floor. Wheaton's senior class (Brooke Olson, Breanna Bohlen, and Jennifer Lee) went from a 13-12 (6-8 CCIW) freshman year, to a 22-6 (11-3) senior year with a trip to the NCAA tournament. A big congratulations to those three as their careers come to an end. And while Carthage is certainly the favorite in the conference going into next year, Wheaton has a really solid group returning as well. It's exciting to see the Thunder program with such a bright future.

On Wheaton's website, they have Jenn Lee listed as a junior - is that an error?

Even if she does come back, I think the loss of Olson and Bohlen will be a BIG hit - I see them fighting for third.  Carthage is gonna be tough, but I think Mia Smith will show that this year was a one year 'blip' (hard to immediately replace a national POY! ) - Titans edge out Lady Reds for first next year.

Jenn is a senior academically, but has a year of athletic eligibility left because of injury.

Carthage will return 4 starters next year. I think everyone will be chasing them.

[iwu70]

Sorry to see CC go out.  Thought they had a good run in them.  Seems a bad time to have an off shooting night, though perhaps it was the size, tough defense of the WI. team.  Tough league for sure.  Great season for the Red People and it's clear they will be favored again next year in CCIW play with four starters back, including the reigning MOP of the CCIW. 

Congrats to CC coaches and team.  A great season -- CCIW crown and CCIW tournament championship and a win against a top 10 team in the Dance.  Great to build on for more next season.

IWU70

[RogK]

Congratulations to Carthage for a very good season. No doubt they are disappointed that it didn't extend for two more weeks, but they did really well. They should fit in somewhere in the 17-32 rankings, hopefully closer to 17 than 32. Wheaton would be somewhere in the 33-64 category. My opinion is that IWU certainly is among the best 64 in the country, too.
At this point, I expect these three teams to be in the top half of the CCIW next season. If so, that would mean another scramble among the remaining five squads. North Central made good progress this season, but surpassing Carthage, Wheaton or IWU will prove to be a major challenge. NC needs to bring in 2 or 3 or 4 athletic 6-footers -- easy to find, I'm sure! North Park needs a substantial new crop, considering how many good seniors they lose. I've heard that Tess Godhardt has left the Elmhurst team (gone from the roster too) and may be found in another conference next year; Elmhurst needs some good additions. Millikin appears to be getting better. Augie has some good players. It would be fun if all 8 teams were strong enough to beat any of the others.