WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Gregory Sager · February 07, 2016, 11:47:05 AM

North Park 49
Millikin 46

Liz Rehberger: 16 pts, 4 blks
Rachel Torres: 10 pts
Amani Davis: 10 rebs, 3 stls
Nicole Kruckman: 6 rebs

This game turned out to be much more interesting than it should've been, because NPU simply could not make a free throw. The Vikings were an abysmal 21-41 (51%) at the charity stripe last night, dropping them from fourth place in league play in that important category (.702) to seventh (.672) in one fell swoop. It stands to reason that any team that can get to the FT line 41 times should win handily, and that should've been the case last night. The fact that the Vikings simply couldn't convert at the line kept MU in it. Indeed, the Big Blue had the game tied up at 43 apiece going into the final two minutes, and they had the ball down three with nine seconds to go. But they inexplicably drove the lane in an attempt to get what would've been a useless two-pointer, missed it, got the offensive rebound, and tried a putback (which also missed) rather than kicking it out for a potential game-tying trey.

That was the bad news. The good news is that the Park really hustled defensively and made crucial plays when they absolutely had to. The best example of this was the play of Soly Román in the game's final minute. She had what would've otherwise been considered a horrible game; she was averaging 9 and 9 coming in, and she ended up only 2 and 4 for the game. But she grabbed an offensive rebound after Rachel Torres had missed two FTs with :50 left and the Vikes up by two, and then (after missing two FTs herself) grabbed a defensive rebound at the other end to get the ball back for NPU with :21 left, leading to two Liz Rehberger FTs that gave the Park a four-point lead. After MU cut the lead back down to two with :13 to go, Amani Davis was fouled on the inbound pass. Again, she missed both FTs -- and, again, Soly Román got the offensive rebound after the second miss, getting the ball to Davis, who made one of two FTs to create the final margin. In less than a minute, Román redeemed a bad game with tremendous effort when the game was on the line. (To be fair to Davis and Torres, they were both really solid everywhere for the entire game, except for at the FT line where almost the entire team just simply tanked.)

A win's a win, and NPU will take it. Everything broke North Park's way yesterday, including Wheaton's win over Elmhurst, as it puts the Vikings in sole possession of second place, only a game out of first, and the loss by Augie gives NPU a two-game cushion over the rest of the pack. The NPU @ EC game on Wednesday looms large now. If the Park can pull out the road win, the Vikes are poised to make a run at the top over the last two weeks.

RogK · February 08, 2016, 03:45:01 PM

Greg (or others), having seen Millikin in person, would you consider it a surprise that they are winless in CCIW play?
In 11 games, their median loss was by 10 points. Closer margins were 8, 6, 4, 3 and 3.
Incidentally, their remaining games are vs teams to whom they've lost by 6 or fewer pts.

Gregory Sager · February 08, 2016, 04:08:01 PM

I do. It's not an untalented team at all. Alyssa Saklak, in particular, is a player I'd take on my team anyday.

The one thing that really separates them from the rest of the league, as far as I can see, is the lack of an outside game. Not only is MU dead last in the league in trey shooting %, the Big Blue have attempted 13% fewer treys than the next-lowest team in the league in that category; they've attempted only 122, while the next most conservative team, NPU, has shot 141. It's not just a CCIW thing, either; over the course of the season the Big Blue have attempted 199 fewer bombs than their opponents. That's more than nine fewer trey attempts per game, which is a glaring discrepancy. It's as though they know that they can't hit them and have therefore given up even trying them.

Against NPU the Big Blue were 0-6 from beyond the arc, and in their previous game against IWU they were 0-4. Their best shooter, Emily Schultz, works a perimeter that's about 17 or 18 feet away from the basket rather than 22 or 23 feet. That, and the fact that her teammates are reluctant to let it fly from distance, makes them much easier to guard as a team.

RogK · February 09, 2016, 10:09:48 PM

Here's another statistical look at how things have gone in conference play (11 games at the moment).
team offensive rebound pct
TEAM OReb Opp DReb Total OReb%
IW 175 294 469 .373
NC 217 408 625 .347
W 154 302 456 .338
E 133 263 396 .336
CCIW 1152 2455 3607 .319
A 138 307 445 .310
M 121 271 392 .309
NP 139 316 455 .305
C 75 294 369 .203
team defensive rebound pct
TEAM DReb Opp OReb Total DReb%
E 291 109 400 .728
W 337 133 470 .717
C 322 148 470 .685
NP 291 135 426 .683
CCIW 2455 1152 3607 .681
A 330 155 485 .680
IW 263 128 391 .673
M 301 147 448 .672
NC 320 197 517 .619
What can we make of this (besides printing it and making a hat)?

iwu70 · February 09, 2016, 11:48:54 PM

A strange year, RogK. Don't think the stats tell the entire story of defensive pressure and effort by various teams. TITANS surely have poor stats for the most part, but still stand 8-3 with a very good chance of getting to the CCIW tournament, even winning the title. They have three games left now, all at home, so why not push hard and win out?? Could be a tie with WC, then tourney in WC due to tie-breakers, but WC could slip again and then the Titans win. Pretty much everything can happen. TITANS have been up and down, pretty inconsistent all year, but still in a pretty good position in the conference race.

Go TITANS!!! Pink Zone game upcoming too -- always a good night, esp. given Coach Smith's history with cancer.

Still important basketball to be played.

IWU70

GoPerry · February 10, 2016, 08:23:43 AM

Alot of important ball to be played by the Thunder. They absolutely must take care of business tonight at home vs Millikin and then a very dangerous game @ Carthage Saturday night that will test them at Tarble, a place where Wheaton Women and Men historically don't play well. Women have lost 3 straight there.

Can't let up with this (virtually) 1/2 game lead over IWU.

Pat Coleman · February 10, 2016, 02:40:07 PM

Alright, folks -- the NCAA's first women's basketball regional rankings are posted. Check out the full list from D3hoops.com:
http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2016/02/10/first-2016-regional-rankings-released-today/

iwu70 · February 10, 2016, 09:17:18 PM

Titans ath The Shirk crush Augie 72-43. Now 9-3 in CCIW play with two games to go. Key game at home now with NPU. Pink Zone Game.

Ehresman 12
Weber 11
McGraw 22

Titans force 22 TOs, points off turnovers = 26. Titans win by 29. There you have it.

IWU'70

iwu70 · February 10, 2016, 09:26:35 PM

Correction -- that was the score at the end of the third quarter, more to go!

iwu70 · February 10, 2016, 09:33:52 PM

Final final from the Shirk: IWU 79 Augie 57.

25 TOs forced.

Titans now 9-3 in CCIW play. Really.

IWU'70

iwu70 · February 12, 2016, 02:19:08 AM

Pink Zone games at The SHIRK this Saturday evening. Hope everyone comes out to support Coach Smith and the TITANS at 5 p.m. -- to beat NPU and to raise a lot of money for a very good cause. Should be a full day at The Shirk -- JV - Alumni game early afternoon, then women's game followed by men's game vs. NPU at 7 p.m. Varsity games very important for both squads.

GO TITANS -- do well and also do good!

IWU70

Gregory Sager · February 13, 2016, 07:47:35 PM

Vikings fall at Shirk, 63-55. After a horrific start to the second half, which began with a 14-0 IWU run to open up a 43-26 lead for the hosts, the Vikes did an admirable job of fighting their way back into it, cutting the lead to one on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter. But they just left too many misses at the rim, which more than anything explained why they couldn't get over the hump in what was a good defensive game for both teams. Liz Rehberger led the way with 23, while Amani Davis had 12 and Soly Román grabbed ten boards. Molly McGraw led Wesleyan with 17, while Gabby Weber added 13 and Maddie Merritt chipped in 11.

Gregory Sager · February 13, 2016, 07:50:29 PM

Making things worse is the fact that North Central beat Elmhurst today, which means that next Saturday's game between the Vikings and the Cardinals in the crackerbox is essentially a play-in game for the fourth and final CCIW tourney spot as far as NPU is concerned.

iwu70 · February 13, 2016, 08:21:46 PM

Yes, Titans over NPU 63-55. A good crowd for the Pink Zone efforts. More to come in the men's game. Titans now 10-3 in CCIW play. Who would have thunk it?? One more game to go, TITANS! Keep it rolling. Let's hope WC slips and we win the CCIW crown outright, get to host the conference tournament at The Shirk.

Liz Rehberger one heck of a player.

IWU'70

iwu70 · February 13, 2016, 08:59:34 PM

My vote would be for Mia Smith as Coach of the Year.

'70