WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Augie coming right back to The Shirk very soon.  Titans will have to rebound better, find a way to defend the dribble penetration better as well.  Key game, as you don't want to fall 2 full games on the leaders' pace.  Plus, have to find a way to put some more losses on AC and WC -- and IWU has a good chance to do it with AC at the Shirk.  Augie playing with confidence for sure -- getting good interior defense from their bigs, one a very big.  IWU got more blocks, but the Augie bigs did play well.  Sure glad to see Ehresman back and back to her normal production, care with the ball.

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

Saw NCC edge Carthage 87-82 in a well-played game. Carthage probably wasn't happy committing 24 TOs, but that figure wasn't outlandish.
Good effort and contributions one way or another by all who played for either team.
Two different Lady Reds had a dozen rebounds : Monica Masini who added 20 pts, Rachel Szydlowski who added 4 blocks and 14 pts. Madie Kaelber had 16 pts, 5 assists and 3 stls. Morgan Harris had 9 assists, but appears to have a troublesome knee. I was hoping to see something along the lines of her 38 point season-opening barrage, but saw a gutty effort nevertheless.
This was my first look at Carthage this season. They have quite a promising group of freshmen to go along with their established talent. A bunch of NCC's freshmen are looking good as well.
For the Cardinals, Jamie Cuny had a very productive 17 min : 16 pts, 8 rebs, 2 stls and 6 blocks. Jessica Dahle scored 14 in 13 min. Anita Sterling had 4 steals and 7 rebs.

I'd forgotten about this until I was looking at some stuff yesterday, but I think Harris hurt her knee in the game at NCC last year, so I'm assuming that's what the brace was for.

I talked to Michelle Roof after the game, and she was hoping for more than the aforementioned 24 turnovers, but she seemed pretty happy with the efforts of a lot of the freshmen on this team. If they can start hitting their threes with a little more regularity, they should be good, but it was nice to see the Cardinals win on a night when the outside shots weren't falling. Diamond Calicott, Natali Dimitrova, and even Selena Juarez all had good games in the post, which is nice to see.

I'm impressed with Carthage. Kaelber was terrifying every time she launched from three (and she launched a ton), and Autumn Kalis shot pretty well too. They kept the Lady Reds in the game, though obviously the decent post scoring from Szydlowski and Masini helped a ton too. 22 fast break points for Carthage is a lot, but they took advantage of the few times North Central's 5's cheated up to help the press.

[RogK]

To add to Greg's sentiments, I hope that any NPU players who are discouraged by their record (or anything else) will be able to finish the season with energy and enjoyment of the sport. If they can do so now, then years down the road they can look back at their hoops careers without any self-induced regrets.
From a program standpoint, NP surely needs to land some athletic scorers in order to compete with the likes of Wheaton's very promising '17-'18 roster, as well as the rest of the league.
Now that I have spoken authoritatively, I have to say that I have no position from which to speak authoritatively! Ha!

[Gregory Sager]

Well said about this NPU team, Rog. I agree completely.

As for what the program needs, it does need athletic scorers, but it really needs much more than that. The Vikings could really use another CCIW-ready ballhandler, since Gabby Sandoval will be the only one left at season's end, and two would be even better. The Vikings could certainly do with another big as well.

All told, the roster will really need an overhaul at the end of the season. That's not to say that there aren't some good pieces to the puzzle already in place for next season (Sandoval, Clarissa Ramos, Shaylee Sloan, Alicia Arnold, Bri Lippert, and Emmy Gryna all come to mind), but right now I think that the team is about half-constructed for next season. That's a tall order to place upon the coaching staff as far as one recruiting cycle is concerned, but I'm glad to see that they're bringing in a steady stream of prospects, game by game. There were several of them in the stands last night who must've watched that debacle and thought to themselves, "Wow! I could play for this team right now!" Call that my silver-lining thought for the day.

[GoPerry]

To add to Greg's sentiments, I hope that any NPU players who are discouraged by their record (or anything else) will be able to finish the season with energy and enjoyment of the sport. If they can do so now, then years down the road they can look back at their hoops careers without any self-induced regrets.
From a program standpoint, NP surely needs to land some athletic scorers in order to compete with the likes of Wheaton's very promising '17-'18 roster, as well as the rest of the league.
Now that I have spoken authoritatively, I have to say that I have no position from which to speak authoritatively! Ha!

I also agree with this.  I am especially mindful of Liz Rehberger who is really a fine player, a legit 1st team all conference and would likely garner all american consideration on a more successful team.  Watching on Wednesday night(amidst switching between that and the Men's NCC game), it was fairly obvious that she has to take so much onto herself.  I hope she's enjoying her senior season with great teammates despite their recent lack of on court success.

[RogK]

So is Jordan Myroth going to become the CCIW version (female, obviously) of Giannis Antetokounmpo? She has height, agility, point guard abilities and does a variety of things well.

[Gregory Sager]

To add to Greg's sentiments, I hope that any NPU players who are discouraged by their record (or anything else) will be able to finish the season with energy and enjoyment of the sport. If they can do so now, then years down the road they can look back at their hoops careers without any self-induced regrets.
From a program standpoint, NP surely needs to land some athletic scorers in order to compete with the likes of Wheaton's very promising '17-'18 roster, as well as the rest of the league.
Now that I have spoken authoritatively, I have to say that I have no position from which to speak authoritatively! Ha!

I also agree with this.  I am especially mindful of Liz Rehberger who is really a fine player, a legit 1st team all conference and would likely garner all american consideration on a more successful team.  Watching on Wednesday night(amidst switching between that and the Men's NCC game), it was fairly obvious that she has to take so much onto herself.  I hope she's enjoying her senior season with great teammates despite their recent lack of on court success.

Liz has a lot of which to be proud, especially since she wasn't an overnight success. She didn't become a starter until midway through January of her freshman season, in which she averaged a modest 8.1 ppg. She didn't get to the point where she's one of the league's best players merely through her innate quickness; she became a complete and highly-skilled player through a lot of hard work. In addition to all of the awards and honors she's won along the way, she's currently at 1,297 points scored for her career; she'll finish her career in fourth place on North Park's all-time scoring list, and in a few years from now she'll no doubt find herself named to the Viking Hall of Fame.

[GoPerry]

So is Jordan Myroth going to become the CCIW version (female, obviously) of Giannis Antetokounmpo? She has height, agility, point guard abilities and does a variety of things well.

.

You tell me Rog, since I"m not familiar with Mr/Ms A.

I will say that it's nice to see a freshman as capable as Jordan Myroth on the roster and getting lots of PT.  She's first off the bench an a team facing some graduating seniors leaving some shoes to fill.

[RogK]

He's a 22 yr old rising star on the Milwaukee Bucks; 6'11" native of Athens, who can go coast-to-coast like Ms Myroth, although he's a better dunker at this point.

[RogK]

Tomorrow's matchups : IWU at CRL, NCC at ELM, AUG at MIL, CTG at WHE. All games consequential, of course.
Surely, none of the coaches will take anything for granted, even if a game or two look like mismatches.

[iwu70]

IWU easily over Carroll 92-56.  Titans played all 20 suited up.  Pioneers only played, perhaps only have 7? 

Shelby Gray had a nice game, and Titans had 5-6 players in double figures.  Ehresman and McGraw only had to play 18-20 minutes each.  Titans are deep, with lots of scoring weapons.  Key thing was a 29-4 outburst in the second Q to lead by 25 at the half.  Game over. 

Great re-match vs. Augie next up, and Augie LOST to Millikin, so the standings tightening up again, with WC still in first place with only one loss.  EC beat "the system." 

IWU'70

[RogK]

Elmhurst indeed beat North Central, 103-81, thanks in large part to a monster 41-20 2nd quarter.
Back in reply 5437, Mr Ypsi asked who might be the first repeat player of the week. Mikaela Eppard probably answered that with 39 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assists and 3 steals today, to follow her 27 pt 10 reb Wednesday.
Hannah Henderson was also extraordinary : 8 steals, 2 blocks, 7 assists, 10 pts (3/4 2FG, 4/4 FT) and 11 rebs. Wow!
Elmhurst had the best ever free throw shooting in CCIW play, 24/24. Millikin made 18/18 back in 2002.
Also for the 'jays, Kalia Summerlin scored 16 via only 8 FG att -- excellent.
Jessica Dahle led NCC with 14 pts.
Each team committed 25 TOs.
The game was extra bad for NCC because Diamond Calicott took the brunt of 2 or 3 players falling on her and hit her head very hard on the floor. Best wishes to her -- hopefully she recovers fully before playing -- absolutely no need to risk any longterm trouble. She  reportedly stayed in the building during the rest of the game, so that's a good sign. Also, teammate Natali Dimitrova went down with knee pain; she played later in the game, but is likely not at 100 pct going forward.

[RogK]

I re-boarded Metra and caught the 2nd half of Wheaton's 65-46 win over Carthage. Katie McDaniels poured in 35 points, ten from 2FGs, fifteen from 3FGs and 10 FTs. All told, she shot .833 eFG and .909 FT pct. Rather good, I'd say. In the half I saw, Devin Kyler and Jill Berg pretty much closed off the lane defensively.
Madie Kaelber topped Carthage with a dozen points.
As iwu70 reported, a bunch of Titans did well in the win at Carroll. I see that Amanda Kelly had 16 pts and 4 steals in 20:00. Brittney Wald tallied 23 for Carroll.
In Millikin's 91-76 victory over Augie, Emily Schultz rang up 23 pts, 10 rebs and 3 steals. Devin Curry scored 22, Haley Toohill 17, Yanni Saddler 13.
For Augie, Mikayla Fallon, Corrie Reiley and Izzy Anderson all scored in the 14-16 range. Kaycee Kallenberger played only 14 minutes (not foul trouble).

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 65
Carthage 46

Katie McDaniels 35 pts ( 10-15 FG, 5-6 3pt) , 6 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls
Kelly Lawson 10 pts
Jill Berg, Devin Kyler 9 and 8 rebs respectively

Madie Kaelber, 12 pts
Morgan Harris, 7 pts, 10 rebs
Rachel Szydlowski, 8 rebs

It was a close game, 46-43, until the 4th quarter when Carthage went inexplicably ice cold and Wheaton outscored them 19-3.  Carthage had no answer for McDaniels who finished off a great night by scoring 11 straight pts to put the game away(after scoring 15 straight in the first half).  It was all working for her on a night where everyone else was decidedly so-so.

On the road to IIT on Wednesday before a big one with NCC next Saturday at the Hangar.

[RogK]

Now that each team has played the others once, this is a good time to review CCIW-only stats :
http://www.cciw.org/custompages/CCIW_Links/WBasketball/Stats/1617/confonly.htm
Note that a majority of the top 11 scorers are from only two teams, Carroll and Millikin.