WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 92, IWU 70

Wow.  What a game by the Thunder tonight winning in decisive fashion.  They came out hot for the 2nd straight game and really didn't cool off.  Turned the ball over only 13 times against the Titan pressure.  Katie McDaniels pretty much put an exclamation point on her MOP credentials by scoring a career high 32 points, 9/11 from the field, 13/15 FT, 4 rebs, 3 asst, stl).  Chantal Meacham (13 pts, 6 asst, stl)  had a great game as well and Hannah Considine (16 pts , 7rebs, 4 blks) was great on the boards and keeping Merritt in check.

Congratulations to Coach Madsen and the crew.

I would be pleasantly surprised if Wheaton gets to host the first weekend but I think it's doubtful( and I'm not sure I can take the student announcers for another game- bless their hearts).  The problem is so many strong teams in the Central.  They are likely headed to Wash U or Oshkosh, maybe even Point or to Hope.

Concur on that. One or two deserving teams out the Central will be stuck traveling. Thinking UWO, Wash U, Hope will probably host. Won't be surprised if the NACC auto-qualifier (Wisconsin Lutheran) get's put into a pod with Wheaton and one of the teams listed.

Yeah, I'm beginning to think Wheaton might have to go to Wash U with Greenville(SLIAC AQ) and maybe DePauw?  That would be brutal.  Who else is close to St Louis distance-wise? They're probably going to make all the Wisc teams slug it out there next weekend to advance.  I don't think Whitewater will get a Pool C, but if they do, they'll probably put 2 WIAC teams in the same pod and 3 in the same quadrant.

St Thomas, Oshkosh, River Falls all hosting probably.  So all the Wisc schools heading that way.

Depends on what happens in the Tournament games on Sunday. They could pull a team or two from the south (again depends on if they host). Doubt they get far down to UWW at the at-large consideration (would love it so Concordia Wisconsin could get to the table but that is a pipe dream).

EDIT: Then again I would chuckle if WLC and Wheaton face off again (though I fear another matchup with Hope) but as you said they may group the Wisconsin schools together and pull the MIAC champ into a pod (host possibly).

UW River Falls, UW Oshkosh, UW Stevens Point, Wisc Lutheran, St Norbert, Wisc Superior(let's not forget about them), along with St Thomas and St Mary's.  That's 2 pods to the north right there (with some brutal early matchups).  They'll probably put Loras up there and Wartburg if they make it to break up the seeds some.

[GoPerry]

Pretty tough draw for Wheaton playing @ River Falls, and then potentially St Thomas.  A difficult road for sure, but it they continue shooting like they have, it's do-able.

[RogK]

UWRF per game averages and what their opponents did vs UWRF :
           2FG/att     3FG/att    FT/att         OReb   DReb   PF       TO      Blk    Stl
UWRF  19/38.9   5.4/17.8  14.5/20.3   11.6     25.1   18.7   15.5    2.1    8.9
Opp   16.3/38.9  5.3/18     11.8/18.5   13        23.3   18.8   16.8    2.4    6.4
-
Their own 2FG% is .489, while opponents' is .418.

[iwu70]

Good luck to Wheaton in the tournament.  Make some noise for the CCIW.

IWU'70

[wheels81]

Congratulations to Katie McDaniels!
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2016/3/1/womens-basketball-katie-mcdaniels-is-named-as-a-finalist-for-the-2016-jostens-trophy.aspx

[GoPerry]

Congratulations to Katie McDaniels!
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2016/3/1/womens-basketball-katie-mcdaniels-is-named-as-a-finalist-for-the-2016-jostens-trophy.aspx

This is a nice recognition for Katie McDaniels and Wheaton College.  Certainly a worthwhile candidate as I"m sure all 10 finalists are.

[RogK]

More about Wheaton's first opponent, UW-RF:
They have five players who get the vast majority of playing time, especially lately : one 6-footer, three are 5'8" and one 5'6".
6' Taylor Karge : scores 14.4/g; 2FG% .496 roughly 5/10 per g; 3FG% .372 but under 2 att/g; FT .771 and 3 att/g; 5.7 rebs/g 77% of them def; 2 or 3 fouls/g; 2 or 3 TO/g; 1 block/g
5'8" Brynn Liljander : 14 pts/g; 2FG .486 roughly 3/6 per g; 3FG roughly 2/6 per g; FT .802 almost 4 att/g; 4 rebs/g virtually all def; 2 fouls 2 TOs per g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Kate Theisen : 10.8 pts/g; 2FG .557 (unusual for a 5'8" player) roughly 4/7 per g; only 3 3FG att in 26g; FT .740 approx 3/4 per g; 2 ORebs/g, 3 DRebs/g; 3.4 fouls/g; 1.7 TO/g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Richell Mehus : 10.1 pts/g (just 1, 2 and 6 recently, but had games of 20, 22, 30); 2FG .515 five att/g; 3FG roughly 1/3 per g; FT .721 three att/g; 4.4 rebs/g evenly split; a bit over 2 fouls and TOs per g; 3.3 stls/g
5'6" Katie Messman : 7.4 pts/g; 2FG .456 1/2 per g; 3FG 1.5/5 per g; FT 1/1.5 per g; 3.7 rebs/g nearly all def; 1 foul/g; 1.5 TO/g; 1.6 stl/g
They all shoot 2FGs and FTs at a good pct. Four of the five are threats from threeland. Four of them get to the FT line at a decent rate.
Messman's tendency for 3FG att matches up with her fairly low OReb amt (good def rebounder though). Liljander also shoots many threes and rarely gets ORebs, but gets a lot of 2FG att and FT att, so her low OReb quantity is unexpected (at least by me, someone who has seen none of their games). Not a criticism -- just an uncommon stat combo.
There are 6 others who have seen frequent but limited action. Taylor Augustine is the top rebounder among the subs, but also commits fouls above avg.
Wheaton consistently plays top-level defense; the five regulars who get big minutes for UW-RF all warrant attention.

[badgerwarhawk]

More about Wheaton's first opponent, UW-RF:
They have five players who get the vast majority of playing time, especially lately : one 6-footer, three are 5'8" and one 5'6".
6' Taylor Karge : scores 14.4/g; 2FG% .496 roughly 5/10 per g; 3FG% .372 but under 2 att/g; FT .771 and 3 att/g; 5.7 rebs/g 77% of them def; 2 or 3 fouls/g; 2 or 3 TO/g; 1 block/g
5'8" Brynn Liljander : 14 pts/g; 2FG .486 roughly 3/6 per g; 3FG roughly 2/6 per g; FT .802 almost 4 att/g; 4 rebs/g virtually all def; 2 fouls 2 TOs per g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Kate Theisen : 10.8 pts/g; 2FG .557 (unusual for a 5'8" player) roughly 4/7 per g; only 3 3FG att in 26g; FT .740 approx 3/4 per g; 2 ORebs/g, 3 DRebs/g; 3.4 fouls/g; 1.7 TO/g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Richell Mehus : 10.1 pts/g (just 1, 2 and 6 recently, but had games of 20, 22, 30); 2FG .515 five att/g; 3FG roughly 1/3 per g; FT .721 three att/g; 4.4 rebs/g evenly split; a bit over 2 fouls and TOs per g; 3.3 stls/g
5'6" Katie Messman : 7.4 pts/g; 2FG .456 1/2 per g; 3FG 1.5/5 per g; FT 1/1.5 per g; 3.7 rebs/g nearly all def; 1 foul/g; 1.5 TO/g; 1.6 stl/g
They all shoot 2FGs and FTs at a good pct. Four of the five are threats from threeland. Four of them get to the FT line at a decent rate.
Messman's tendency for 3FG att matches up with her fairly low OReb amt (good def rebounder though). Liljander also shoots many threes and rarely gets ORebs, but gets a lot of 2FG att and FT att, so her low OReb quantity is unexpected (at least by me, someone who has seen none of their games). Not a criticism -- just an uncommon stat combo.
There are 6 others who have seen frequent but limited action. Taylor Augustine is the top rebounder among the subs, but also commits fouls above avg.
Wheaton consistently plays top-level defense; the five regulars who get big minutes for UW-RF all warrant attention.

They are physical.

[RogK]

Thanks for the explanation, badgerwarhawk.
I forgot to mention that their assist leader is Mehus. She must be a versatile athlete, getting those assists, plus an impressive number of offensive rebounds (at 5'8") and all those steals.

[GoPerry]

More about Wheaton's first opponent, UW-RF:
They have five players who get the vast majority of playing time, especially lately : one 6-footer, three are 5'8" and one 5'6".
6' Taylor Karge : scores 14.4/g; 2FG% .496 roughly 5/10 per g; 3FG% .372 but under 2 att/g; FT .771 and 3 att/g; 5.7 rebs/g 77% of them def; 2 or 3 fouls/g; 2 or 3 TO/g; 1 block/g
5'8" Brynn Liljander : 14 pts/g; 2FG .486 roughly 3/6 per g; 3FG roughly 2/6 per g; FT .802 almost 4 att/g; 4 rebs/g virtually all def; 2 fouls 2 TOs per g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Kate Theisen : 10.8 pts/g; 2FG .557 (unusual for a 5'8" player) roughly 4/7 per g; only 3 3FG att in 26g; FT .740 approx 3/4 per g; 2 ORebs/g, 3 DRebs/g; 3.4 fouls/g; 1.7 TO/g; 1 stl/g
5'8" Richell Mehus : 10.1 pts/g (just 1, 2 and 6 recently, but had games of 20, 22, 30); 2FG .515 five att/g; 3FG roughly 1/3 per g; FT .721 three att/g; 4.4 rebs/g evenly split; a bit over 2 fouls and TOs per g; 3.3 stls/g
5'6" Katie Messman : 7.4 pts/g; 2FG .456 1/2 per g; 3FG 1.5/5 per g; FT 1/1.5 per g; 3.7 rebs/g nearly all def; 1 foul/g; 1.5 TO/g; 1.6 stl/g
They all shoot 2FGs and FTs at a good pct. Four of the five are threats from threeland. Four of them get to the FT line at a decent rate.
Messman's tendency for 3FG att matches up with her fairly low OReb amt (good def rebounder though). Liljander also shoots many threes and rarely gets ORebs, but gets a lot of 2FG att and FT att, so her low OReb quantity is unexpected (at least by me, someone who has seen none of their games). Not a criticism -- just an uncommon stat combo.
There are 6 others who have seen frequent but limited action. Taylor Augustine is the top rebounder among the subs, but also commits fouls above avg.
Wheaton consistently plays top-level defense; the five regulars who get big minutes for UW-RF all warrant attention.

I'm not sure there's a tougher pod this first weekend with #8 St Thomas, #13 River Falls, and #17 Wheaton.  But every draw has these inevitably difficult first round match ups.  For Wheaton, they'll be travelling 350 miles to play host RF and if they can get through that, they'll likely face a very-close-to-home UST team.

But this is what they have and they need to be ready for it.  No excuses at this time of the year and no sympathy from anyone.  Yes, it looks like the Falcons have a lot of size and are clearly offensively gifted and balanced.  And they'll have to be prepared to match or counter the physicality which badgerwarhawk says they play with.  Unfortunately, I don't believe the CCIW schedule has prepared them well for a team of this style or quality(I alluded to this after last years first round exit).  But Wheaton did play a slightly better non-con schedule so I'm hoping they can rise to the level of tourney intensity necessary.

If UWRF happens to focus on containing McDaniels(a logical strategy I think), then Hannah Considine, Chantal Meacham, and Kelly Lawson will not have the luxury of waiting long to step up their aggressiveness.  Jennifer Berg has been playing well lately and they'll likely need her to continue.  The team played about as well as could possibly be expected last weekend.  If that's a trend instead of an aberration, then a lot is possible.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Ms. McDaniels on Josten.  Truly a big honor. 

Good luck in the tournament to Wheaton. 

IWU'70

[RogK]

I concur with the above sentiments expressed by iwu70.
I expect the Thunder to be competitive however far they advance in the tournament.

[RogK]

Well, things didn't go as wished for Wheaton, but congrats to them for a very good season, the best of the CCIW.
"Nicely done" goes to the Thunder seniors for their fine careers - - Sarah Drury, Hannah Considine, NatalieRose Brogan (although she must have another year of eligibility?) and particularly to Ellie Zeller, an all-conference player who missed playing most of this season due to injury.

[GoPerry]

UW River Falls 81
Wheaton 56

The Thunder were thoroughly outplayed and seriously out-coached tonight in River Falls, Wisconsin.  No doubt it was a tough environment to play in with a large turnout and student section for the Falcons.  Bravo to them.  UWRF shot 56% from the field and the easy explanation is  "Good! Layup by ,  Good! Layup by , Good! Layup by , " which you'll see with alarming frequency in the box score play-by-play for RF.   Part of this was terrific passing execution by the Falcons.  But much of it was simply the inability of Wheaton to guard basic screen/roll and giving up easy layups in the defensive set.  I noticed this deficiency in the game vs IWU last weekend but Wheaton's terrific shooting rendered that moot.

No such thing tonight as the Thunder could not continue their hot shooting from last weekend.  They ended up shooting 28% from the field exacerbated by desperation for the last 1/3 of the game and 6/25 from 3 for 24%. Not winning #s.  My biggest fear, keeping the bigger Falcons off the boards, was realized as Wheaton was -21 (28-49) in that department.

UW River Falls is a very good and skilled team.  All credit to them.  I'm thinking that they will go pretty deep.  I would guess that 2/3 of their shot attempts were with 5 feet of the basket but when they did take shots from the outside, they made a lot of those as well (6/13 from the arc).

The Thunder will have to ponder their 2nd straight first round exit and whether they can accept that result a year from now when McDaniels and Meacham are seniors.  The CCIW should be overall more competitive next season which might help Wheaton acquire the toughness necessary to advance deeper(if they make it).

Having said that, congratulations are definitely in order for another fine season.  And thank you to seniors Hannah Considine, Ellie Zeller, Sarah Drury and NatalieRose Brogan for their contributions to Wheaton Womens Basketball and for representing the school well with competitiveness and graciousness. 

[iwu70]

Tough loss, WC.  Sounds WI-RF just too good, big and executing very well.  Good season for WC, conference and tournament championships.  Yes, next year will be tougher with so many underclassmen from many CCIW teams back.  I have no doubt that IWU will be better next year.

IWU'70