WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

GoPerry, I assume your question relates primarily to McDaniels, Meacham and Lawson? My guess is that Coach Madsen figured those three would do more scoring as the game progressed. Carthage played a sharp game.
In Augie's 85-82 2OT win over Elmhurst, four Vikings scored in double figures : Izzy Anderson 16 (+ 6 rebs), Kaycee Kallenberger 16 (11 rebs, 5 blocks, 5 fouls), Corrie Reiley 13 (+ 4 steals), Sadie Roberts 11. Mikayla Fallon grabbed 8 rebounds.
Mikaela Eppard continues to shine : 35 pts, 11 rebs, 4 steals (and 5 fouls). Kalia Summerlin poured in a season-high 21 pts. Hannah Lipman had 13 rebs.

[iwu70]

Is McDaniels hitting the wall?  Lots of minutes on that good player over her stellar career.

I don't understand WC's loss tonight either, especially by that margin.

A tough stretch run now for all the contenders. 

I like the position my TITANS are in and how they are playing, their depth, at this time in the long, exhausting season.  They have that long trip to Carthage upcoming too.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Eppard is eating everyone up.  Seems she's making a great case for CCIW Most Outstanding Player of the Year, esp. if EC gets anywhere close to the CCIW crown.  McGraw has a good case too.

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

Eppard is eating everyone up.  Seems she's making a great case for CCIW Most Outstanding Player of the Year, esp. if EC gets anywhere close to the CCIW crown.  McGraw has a good case too.

IWU'70

Eppard is third in scoring in the conference, second in rebounds, and leads the CCIW in field goal percentage. Being in third place in the conference right now and just half a game out of the lead, I think she's got a better shot at it than McGraw right now (4th in scoring, but not in the top 15 in any other category, and Ehresman would probably steal some consideration if we're looking strictly at Titans).

Speaking of the Titans, based on tiebreakers Illinois Wesleyan moves into first place with Wheaton's loss, with the aforementioned game between the two on the 21st likely to serve as the regular season championship game. On the opposite end of the standings, Carroll is mathematically eliminated from the CCIW Tournament after their loss to North Park last night.

[lmitzel]

Side note (and probably something that should be noted more so on the MIAA board), but congratulations to former Cardinal Emily Zgoda, now with Albion, who hit an obscene 13 of 19 threes last night and scored 44 points, both school records, in their win over Olivet. Glad she's having success back home.

[Gregory Sager]

Eppard is eating everyone up.  Seems she's making a great case for CCIW Most Outstanding Player of the Year, esp. if EC gets anywhere close to the CCIW crown.  McGraw has a good case too.

IWU'70

Eppard is third in scoring in the conference, second in rebounds, and leads the CCIW in field goal percentage. Being in third place in the conference right now and just half a game out of the lead, I think she's got a better shot at it than McGraw right now (4th in scoring, but not in the top 15 in any other category, and Ehresman would probably steal some consideration if we're looking strictly at Titans).

I was just thinking about this last night, but forgot to post it. The MOP is definitely Eppard's to lose at this point.

[RogK]

Here are the CCIW players that have scored at least 20 in a game this season. Their season scoring highs are shown. While compiling this list, I noted that several very good players were close, but did not reach my arbitrary cutoff of 20.
AUG : Corrie Reiley 20, Olivia Mayer 21, Izzy Anderson 23.
CRL : Morgan Lund 23, Sara Hartl 24, Caylee Coker 27, Brittney Wald 29.
CTG : Monica Masini 20, Morgan Vukovich 20, Bailey Gilbert 21, Autumn Kalis 24, Madie Kaelber 28, Rachel Szydlowski 32, Morgan Harris 38.
ELM : Kalia Summerlin 21, Kaela Jones 22, Mikaela Eppard 39.
IWU : Ashley Schneider 20, Maddie Merritt 24, Rebekah Ehresman 26, Molly McGraw 37.
MIL : Rachael Weber 21, Devin Curry 23, Emily Schultz 25, Yanni Saddler 26.
NCC : Paula Zerante 22, Anita Sterling 28, Mayson Whipple 29.
NPU : Hannah Rehfeldt 20, Alicia Arnold 21, Emmy Gryna 21, Liz Rehberger 38.
WHE : Chantal Meacham 20, Kelly Lawson 27, Katie McDaniels 38.

[iwu70]

Agree on Eppard.  A monster season so far, carrying her team further than most of us thought.  Agree too on Ehresman getting some consideration for the Titans.  Both she and McGraw key to the Titans position so far.  Also, great improvement, contributions by sophomore Maddie Merritt, giving the Titans the post/paint presence they have not had in recent editions.  That's a strong threesome for the Titans.  All coming back next year.  Good depth and role players too, some who can also score.  Shanks will have a good CCIW career. 

We'll see how it all plays out, which Team brings home the hardware at the end of the day, evening of the 21st February, after these next six games.

IWU'70 

[iwu70]

Actually in conference play, Eppard and McGraw are tied at the top in scoring per game.  I believe conference games only are considered for MOP and All-Conference honors.  Eppard and McGraw both first teamers, IMHO. 

IWU70

[GoPerry]

I think MOP is as wide open as the race for the top of the conference.  I agree that Eppard is having a good year and if the 'Jays finish 1st or 2nd in the conference, then she'll get lots of consideration.  If they drop to 4th, I think that will hurt her chances.  Elmhurst has a tough stretch to come beginning with Saturday's game at Wheaton - a big game for both teams.  If Wheaton finishes strong and finishes in 1st, Katie McDaniels will be near the top of every ballot.  Likewise if IWU finishes 1st for McGraw or Ehresman although I believe that's a less obvious choice.

[lmitzel]

I know it's getting down towards the end, but I don't want to start putting too much stock in Most Outstanding Player voting yet, since 5-6 games can change a ton of outlooks. Maybe Eppard has a couple 3-11 games from the field; maybe one of Augie's guards turns into Emily Zgoda from the other night and drains a ton of threes to up the scoring average and lead the Vikings to the conference title. Maybe Jamie Cuny throws up six straight 15-10-8 block nights to throw the Cardinals into the tournament. (I doubt it happens, but it would be awesome. )

Looking at implications for tomorrow night, we're still about a week away from anyone clinching a tournament berth. IWU remains in first place with a win, Augie could sneak into a tie for third with a win and a Wheaton win over Elmhurst (I don't know what the tiebreaker scenario is off the top of my head), and on the other end, an Augie win over Millikin eliminates the Big Blue, and that combined with a Cardinal win at North Park eliminates the Vikings as well (and considering the Cardinals are pretty much in must-win territory at this point...)

[RogK]

lmitzel, I'm surprised that you, of all people, would want Jamie Cuny to "throw up." Yes, we want players to "leave it all on the floor," but not that way.

[matblake]

Some cool promos for the CCIW, which according to Twitter were put together by NC17 in Naperville.  There's a long and short version.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cciw

[GoPerry]

I know it's getting down towards the end, but I don't want to start putting too much stock in Most Outstanding Player voting yet, since 5-6 games can change a ton of outlooks. Maybe Eppard has a couple 3-11 games from the field; maybe one of Augie's guards turns into Emily Zgoda from the other night and drains a ton of threes to up the scoring average and lead the Vikings to the conference title. Maybe Jamie Cuny throws up six straight 15-10-8 block nights to throw the Cardinals into the tournament. (I doubt it happens, but it would be awesome. )

Looking at implications for tomorrow night, we're still about a week away from anyone clinching a tournament berth. IWU remains in first place with a win, Augie could sneak into a tie for third with a win and a Wheaton win over Elmhurst (I don't know what the tiebreaker scenario is off the top of my head), and on the other end, an Augie win over Millikin eliminates the Big Blue, and that combined with a Cardinal win at North Park eliminates the Vikings as well (and considering the Cardinals are pretty much in must-win territory at this point...)

A Wheaton win over Elmhurst tomorrow night would give the Thunder a 2-0 record vs EC and a tie-breaker edge over IWU - provided they beat IWU at King on Feb 21. 

[iwu70]

Yes, agree, lots of basketball still to be played.  But, you have to say that Eppard is playing at an awesome level and very unlikely to dip in her overall performance any time soon.  McDaniels on the other had has had several very weak games, and that's why I asked if she had "hit the wall" in terms of so many minutes, games played over her long and exemplar career.   I don't sense that McGraw or Ehresman are getting tired at all as IWU plays a style of game with "run and jump" that leads to late-season fitness.  McGraw sometimes plays with some despondency, but when she's on, she is surely one of the most difficult offensive talents to guard in the league.  Ehresman is just rock solid, consistent and reliable.  I personally think she's the most valuable player on the Titan squad, with many many good supportive role players there too, all playing pretty well right now.  Maddie Merritt has been the important, positive surprise this season. 

WC vs. EC surely the big game this weekend.  I'll be cheering for EC as I think IWU has a better chance of beating them second time 'round at home, than beating WC at Wheaton, last game of the season on the 21st.  Just a thought.

IWU'70