WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU has a pretty favorable schedule to win out -- with the final three games at The Shirk.  Key game is NPU on the 13th, the PINK Zone game at The Shirk.  Quite reasonable for the Titans to win out and go 12-2 in conference play.  The "run and jump" doing its dirt -- likely keeping the players in top shape, though also some long-season fatigue could set in.  Those ladies have put a long of miles on their sneakers.  We'll see.  Ehresman surely having an All-CCIW season, good contribution from the freshmen bigs, esp. Merritt, but still some inconsistent play from McGraw.  When she's good, she's very good, other times she has a rough, inconsistent, poor-shooting night.  Need good games from Holness and Ellsworth.  Overall, this young team has a real shot at the CCIW crown --  unexpected but very pleasing.

Keep going TITANS -- three more weeks! 

IWU70

[GoPerry]

Yet another obviously big game at the Crackerbox tonight.  For Wheaton, a chance to extend their win streak by picking up a key road win and maintain a tenuous hold on 1st place.  If the Thunder can come out with the W, then the remaining schedule evens out a little bit vs IWU's last 4 games.

I believe as Liz Rehberger goes, so goes the Vikes.  If she is shooting well and getting to the line, she and the team are tough to beat.  In the earlier match at King, she picked up 2 quick fouls and sat out practically the entire first 2 quarters.  I doubt that will happen tonight so- while Wheaton is a very good defensive team this will be a team challenge.  Offensively, can the Thunder shoot 40%+ from the field and 33%+ from the arc?  Scoring has been tough for this team of late.

At this time of the year, they're all must wins for NPU.  They need this win to keep from falling into a tie for the 4th spot with either NCC or Augie(play each other tonight) and getting a season split with the Thunder could be a critical tie-breaker for them.

[RogK]

Thanks for all the data RogK.  Very interesting stuff.
IWU'70

You're welcome.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

For the third consecutive year, Hoopsville will air for 12 hours as the regular season enters the final four weeks. Dave McHugh will chat with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and others involved in Division III basketball from around the country. Other guests will include those who have Division III roots or appreciate the division and the game along with the student-athletes who play the sport.

Hoopsville will air from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (and maybe later) on Thursday, February 4 live from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can see what guests are scheduled, get more information, and watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb4

You can also read the press release about the show: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/hoopsville-marathon-2016

Here is the guest list as we speak. All times are Eastern and subject to change. Additional guests to be added if and when necessary:


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Time	Guest	School
10:15am	Connie Tilley	St. Norbert (WBB) - WBCA Center Court
10:40am	Jamie Purdy	Peidmont (WBB)
11:00am	Keri Carollo	UW-Whitewater (WBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
11:20am	Brent Pollari	Saint Mary's (Minn.) (WBB)
11:40am	Kent Madsen	No. 21 Wheaton (Ill.) (WBB)
12:00pm	Russell Loyd	Rose-Hulman (MBB)
12:20pm	Kevin Broderick	Nazareth (MBB)
12:40pm	Justin Scott	Arcadia (MBB)
1:00pm	Sam Hargraves	No. 12 Alma (MBB)
1:20pm	Lenny Reich	Mount Union (SID)
1:40pm	Maureen Webster	Clarkson (WBB)
2:00pm	Betsy Witman	York (Pa.) (WBB)
2:20pm	Sara Lee	Denison (WBB)
2:40pm	Klay Kneuppel	Wisconsin Lutheran (MBB)
3:00pm	Brian Van Haaften	Buena Vista (MBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
3:30pm	Sydney Moss	No. 1 Thomas More (WBB)
3:45pm	Aaron Rousell	Bucknell (WBB) - former Chicago coach
4:00pm	Tim Shanahan	Staten Island (WBB)
4:20	Pat Cunningham	Trinity (Texas) (MBB) - NABC Coach's Corner
4:50pm	Bubba Smith	Sewanee (MBB)
5:15pm	Ben Strong	Former Guilford All-American
5:30pm	Kevin Connors	ESPN SportsCenter Anchor - Ithaca alumnus
6:00pm	Kristen Dowling	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (WBB)
6:20pm	Allison Coleman	Sage (WBB)
6:40pm	Landry Kosmalski	Swarthmore (MBB)
7:00pm	Dave Niland	No. 23 Penn State-Behrend (MBB)
7:20pm	Aaron Galletta	Lasell (MBB)
7:40pm	John Baron	Gwynedd-Mercy (MBB)
8:00pm
8:20pm
8:40pm	Melissa Hodgdon	Wheaton (Mass.) (WBB)
9:00pm	G.P. Gromacki	No. 2 Amherst (WBB)
9:20pm	James Wagner
9:40pm	HAPPY HOUR	Free-for-all of calls, tweets, and fun!

We hope to get at least the full show on a podcast, or several podcast, during the on Friday. You can find it here:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project has begun yet again. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered. If you can not donate, please don't worry about - we understand. At least share the campaign with anyone you think might be interested: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509

Also, if you know any advertisers interested in promoting their company or products on the show, send them our way: hoopsville@d3hoops.com

Thanks!

[iwu70]

Titans over MU 69-56 -- grinding out another conference win.  Now 8-2 in conference.  Holness with 18, McGraw 14.

Keep going TITANS.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

NPU over WC, so Titans back in first place alone.

Thank you NPU.

'70

[GoPerry]

NPU 60, WC 51

Unfortunate for the Thunder, but not too surprising.  This one was always going to be a tough hurdle.  Once again, a tough time scoring with consistency.

[Roundball999]

NPU 60, WC 51

Unfortunate for the Thunder, but not too surprising.  This one was always going to be a tough hurdle.  Once again, a tough time scoring with consistency.

Didn't see the game but based on the box score, I'd comment that the Thunder would always have a tough go of it when an excellent player like Hannah Considine is saddled with foul trouble and therefore plays only 13 minutes with just one shot attempt. 

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 60
Wheaton 51

Liz Rehberger: 18 pts, 3:1 a:to
Nicole Kruckman: 13 pts, 7 rebs
Soly Román: 10 pts, 11 rebs
Amani Davis: 6 rebs
Rachel Torres: 3:1 a:to

Katie McDaniels: 20 pts
Mel Bremhorst: 8 rebs

I had a sinking feeling about this one early on, as Wheaton dominated the first quarter and NPU didn't look sharp at all. The visitors built up their biggest lead at 18-11, but then the Vikings started to get the transition game going and went on a 14-point run to take a seven-point lead of their own. Wheaton never got it back again, as the Park built the lead up to as much as 13 in the third quarter before the team in orange whittled it down to two early in the fourth quarter. But the Vikings managed to get some separation and ended up cruising to the win, in spite of the fact that they missed four free throws in the game's final 1:18.

The Vikings just plain outworked the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance last night. Although Wheaton is about as tall and as long as any CCIW team I can remember seeing in quite awhile, the Park outrebounded Wheaton to the tune of 43-34. Soly Román picked up her fifth double-double of the season and had a very nice lunch-bucket game under the basket, while Nicole Kruckman continued to show that she has sharpened her ability to finish at the rim. While Katie McDaniels slightly outplayed her fellow star guard Liz Rehberger last night, McDaniels had very little offensive support at all, and by the end of the game she was forcing it too much in an effort to generate something out of Wheaton's static offense.

This was a very good win for NPU, and I hope that it stems the bleeding of the past couple of weeks.

NPU 60, WC 51

Unfortunate for the Thunder, but not too surprising.  This one was always going to be a tough hurdle.  Once again, a tough time scoring with consistency.

Didn't see the game but based on the box score, I'd comment that the Thunder would always have a tough go of it when an excellent player like Hannah Considine is saddled with foul trouble and therefore plays only 13 minutes with just one shot attempt. 

They weren't ticky-tack fouls, either. Considine's head just didn't seem to be in the game at all. Pretty surprising for the reigning CCIW Player of the Week.

[iwu70]

If you want to see something strange, look at the stats for this year's Titans and see that they are near or at the bottom in most every stat line -- save for steals and a few others.  But, somehow, almost miraculously, they are leading the CCIW race at this point.  They have played inconsistently, shot the ball poorly, not rebounded all that well, and still -- due to pressure defense and turning over the opponent -- are able to find ways to win, now 8-2 in conference play.  It is conceivable that they will go 12-2 or 11-3 in conference play.  Given the start they had in pre-CCIW play, it's pretty amazing.

Keep it going TITANS -- four games to go!  Go out and get the AQ.

IWU'70

[RogK]

To further see what you referred to, iwu70, here are the game-by-game turnovers by IWU conference opponents : 20, 13, 31, 31, 42, 26, 18, 20, 20 and 37. Only the 13 was below average. Average seems to be around 18 in WBB (the guys commit fewer, I'd say). That 42 was by North Central, a really awful performance by them, or maybe really good D by IWU.
Judging by the numbers, IWU also seems to be guarding the 3-line quite well. Here are their CCIW opponents' 3FGs made : 5, 3, 5, 2, 9 (37 att), 0, 5, 5, 10, 0. The only unsuccessful IWU effort was allowing 10 threes to Carthage in 26 attempts. In 10 CCIW games, the opposing 3FG% is .259.

[iwu70]

If the Titans win the CCIW crown, it's going to be some kind of new, strange beast for sure.  Thanks RogK for the additional data on their strange stat lines this year.  When the Titans start to shoot a decent percentage, I guess the rest of the league will really have to watch out!!!

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Sadly, Titans go down to the system, at NC. 89-81.  NC hit a high enough % from three and the Titans turned it over more than usual, hence the result.  Two double-doubles by Titans, McGraw high points at 17.  Back to a tie with Wheaton now for the CCIW conference race lead.  Three games left -- all at home.  Gotta win out, hope WC has another slip up.  Not likely.  Key game  upcoming is IWU vs. NPU at home.  Looks now like the conference tournament might be at Wheaton.

IWU'70

[RogK]

Quite a game for NC's Jamie Cuny. She had 13 rebs (10 def), 3 steals and 9 blocks. Also an efficient 7 pts. Ten different Cardinals made a 3.
Overall, IWU won the rebounding 62-41.
NC had 21 TOs, a major improvement on the 42 they did in Bloomington three weeks ago.

[iwu70]

Correction:  the score of IWU - NC was 87-81.  Yes, when NCC doesn't turn it over as much and shoots a decent percentage from 3, the system can work.  Tough loss for the Titans.  Gotta win out now for sure.

'70