WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

Greg, normally I would have been at Foster/Kedzie Arena last night, but I've been under the weather for a few days. My next game will be Saturday at NP.
iwu70, this article explains about Kuzmanic's injury :
http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2014/2/5/Womens_Basketball_0205140030.aspx
Sounds like she should return to action soon.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst 68
North Park 57

Rachel Torres: 19 pts
Liz Rehberger: 14 pts
Dominikque Williams: 6 rebs
Brittany Pittas: 6:2 a:to

Fiona McMahon: 24 pts, 6 rebs
Katie Swanson: 14 pts, 7 rebs
Melanie Schwerdtmann: 12 pts, 8 rebs
Karen Senette: 5:2 a:to
Devin Vaughn: 4:2 a:to

Call it stage fright, call it a lack of experience, but last night the Vikings played like a team that wasn't ready to play a game that big. Elmhurst, on the other hand, showed the poise of a veteran team by holding the Vikings at bay down the stretch.

NPU was dominated inside by EC's bigs McMahon and Schwerdtmann, who not only put up strong numbers but put a lot of pressure upon both Nicole Kruckman and Soly Roman, as they were two of the three Vikings who fouled out of the game. The other problem was Katie Swanson, whom I don't remember being as quick or as active as she was last night. She was the best player on the floor, as she continually put pressure on the NPU inside defense with her dribble penetration and ability to induce fouls at the rim (nine of her 14 points were from the free-throw line).

The two teams shot identical 20-49 totals from the field, and NPU was actually a little better from downtown than were the 'jays. But the difference in the game was at the free-throw line; Elmhurst, which came into the game shooting a tremendous 77% from the stripe as a team, actually improved upon that impressive stat by going 25-32 (78%) from the charity stripe last night. It's very tough to beat a team that makes 25 free throws in a game, because that not only means that you're committing a lot of fouls (NPU was whistled 27 times, and, as I said, three Vikings fouled out), it also means that the other team is making hay from those fouls on the scoreboard. NPU was an excellent 12-15 (80%) from the line as well, but that was far too few FTs to offset the Elmhurst advantage. Aside from Rachel Torres, the Vikings mostly settled for jumpshots last night.

Liz Rehberger and Rachel Torres played very well for the Vikings, and it was great to see Dominikque Williams back in uniform, but it was a depressing evening for North Park fans. The Vikings had fourth place in their grasp, and they let it slip away. It will now be an uphill battle for the Vikings to make the CCIW tourney.

[Gregory Sager]

iwu70, this article explains about Kuzmanic's injury :
http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2014/2/5/Womens_Basketball_0205140030.aspx
Sounds like she should return to action soon.

The impressive thing about the Carthage win is that, according to Tim Bernero, Kuzmanic hurt her ankle at the end of practice on Tuesday. That meant that Carthage had no opportunity at all to practice without their All-American ... and yet they still went out and whipped a pretty good Wheaton team last night.

[RogK]

Records and remaining opponents :
Carthage : 9 - 0;  A  E  IW  NP  M
Ill Wesleyan : 8 - 1;  E  NC  C  W  NP
Wheaton : 6 - 4;  M  NP  NC  IIT  IW
Elmhurst : 4 - 5;  IW  C  A  M  NC
North Park : 3 - 5;  NC  W  M  C  A  IW
North Central : 3 - 6;  M  NP  IW  W  E
Millikin : 2 - 6;  NC  W  A  NP  E  C
Augustana : 1 - 9;  C  M  E  NP

[iwu70]

RogK, thanks for the info on Kuzmanic.  I had no idea.

Some good games upcoming still.  Looking forward to the re-match CC vs. IWU @The Shirk.

"Pink Zone" Games -- both men and women - @The Shirk this Saturday.  Hoping for a big turnout, a big fundraising success for the local Cancer Center -- for research and support.  The Cancer Center does great work in the Bloomington/Normal community and broader area. 

Go TITANS -- keep it rolling vs. Elmhurst! 

IWU70

[RogK]

Millikin moved up in the standings last night, thanks to a 101-82 win at North Central. The score was knotted at 26, but Millikin led the rest of the way. Brittany Czaplicki did very well, with 25 pts, 5 assists and 8 rebs. Kelsey Going tallied 21 (10/11 FG). North Central won the TO battle, but only by 38 to 30. Millikin ruled the rebounding 59-31. I imagine that Coach Roof was not particularly pleased about that. Coach Kerans had to be very happy with her players' efforts.
Updated records (excluding the 3 best) :
Elmhurst 4 - 5
North Park 3 - 5
Millikin 3 - 6
North Central 3 - 7
Augie 1 - 9
Augie is probably out of it; a 5-way tie at 5-9 may not even be possible and if it was, the NP win over Wheaton would be a tie-breaker I think.
North Central has no room for error, likely needing to go 3 -1 or 4 - 0.
Millikin may have some momentum, but has a fairly difficult schedule remaining.

[iwu70]

Rochester beat #2 Wash U @Wash U.

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Rochester beat #2 Wash U @Wash U.

'70

Yeah, that's gonna really hurt in the poll.  They had maintained #2 because their only loss was AT what appears to be by far the best d3 team this year, and by a highly respectable 8 points.  On the other hand, Rochester coming into St. Louis was 7-11 overall, 1-6 UAA, and on a 5-game losing streak.  A VERY bad loss!  With so many teams still undefeated, or only one loss, I suspect they'll fall to 9th or 10th.

[iwu70]

Ypsi, let's just hope our Titans can win out, or do well in the final 5 games, plus CCIW tourney, and get some consideration for a Pool C bid.  Would love to see our Titans beat CC at home in a few days time, then host the CCIW tourney.  They are improving, grinding out the wins, up to 14-6 now, 8-1, another good season.  CC just has so many good players this year, Kuzmanic doing her thing.  Baltes and McMahon surely having 1st team All-CCIW seasons.  We will miss these four seniors, plus Taylor Reaber, so next year is clearly a rebuilding year, me thinks.

IWU70

[Hoosier Titan]

Taylor Reber is also a senior and is deserving of mention equally with the other seniors.

[iwu70]

Yes, I'm a big fan of senior Taylor Reaber and her important contributions to this year's Titan squad. 

GO TITANS!!!  Hope there's a big big turnout for the "Pink Zone" games at The Shirk vs. Elmhurst, both men and women's games.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

North Central has no room for error, likely needing to go 3 -1 or 4 - 0.

No room for error for NPU, either. The Vikings need this win this afternoon against the Cardinals.

[iwu70]

IWU over EC at the half, 39-34.  EC hanging tough, hitting a good percentage from 3. 

Pink Zone game, Pink Unis.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Important win at home for the Titans tonight, 81-70 over a very improved EC team.  This game was closer than the score indicates and was not decided until the last 2-3 minutes.

McMahon continues her amazingly consistent season -- 26 and 5 with 4 steals
Seibring 15 and 5
Jackson 15 and 6
Taylor Reaber 7 and 7

Karen Senette for EC had a excellent game with 21, shooting the trey very very well.

Titans forced 22 TOs, though EC handled the pressure pretty well throughout, perhaps as well as about any team this season.

IWU now 15-6, 9-1. 

Keep it rolling Titans, keep grinding out the wins.  Great crowd tonight for the "Pink Zone" -- the place pretty much full by the time the men tipped off in their game with EC.

GO TITANS!!!

IWU70

[iwu70]

Hope Colleen McMahon gets Player of the Week this week.  She's been amazing scoring the ball all year.  Just say'in.

Go TITANS -- keep it rolling.

IWU70