WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

How about this for all-CCIW?
1st : M Eppard ELM, R Ehresman IWU, H Frazier WHE, D Kyler WHE, M Kaelber CTG, M Merritt IWU, M Harris CTG, A Jones AUG
2nd : M Dansdill WHE, M McGraw IWU, K Jones ELM, B Gilbert CTG, D Curry MIL, B Wald CRL, M Whipple NCC, S Sloan NPU

[GoPerry]

These are just the teams that could end up in pods with Central teams, hosting or not.  Granted, there are still games to be played.

Great Lakes:
DePauw              24-1, SOS .531, 2-1 vRRO,
Hope                  23-1, SOS .540, 2-1 vRRO,
Thomas More      23-1, SOS .524, 3-1 vRRO,
Trine                23-2, SOS .526, 1-2 vRRO,
Rose-Hulman     21-3, SOS .524, 3-3 vRRO
Ohio Northern     21-4, SOS .499, 2-0 vRRO


Central
   UW Whitewater   22-3, SOS .580, 7-2 vRRO,
   IWU                 21-3, SOS .581, 3-3 vRRO,
   Chicago            22-2, SOS .569, 4-2 vRRO,
   Wash U            18-6, SOS .605, 3-4 vRRO,
   Wheaton           19-4, SOS .557, 1-3 vRRO,
   Wisc Lutheran    21-3, SOS .521, 1-1 vRRO,
   UW- Eau Claire   17-8, SOS .588, 3-5 vRRO
   UW- Oshkosh     18-5, SOS .528, 2-4 vRRO,
   
I don't recall from past board discussions if there are any parameters these days regarding how many hosting sites can come from any one region? For example, will they try to give 2 to each region (acknowledging the challenge of this in the west)?  It would seem to me that between Whitewater, IWU and Chicago, 2 out of those 3 have a great chance of hosting in the first round and you could make a case for all 3 as Thunder38 suggests. 

West   
   Wartburg             25-0, SOS .526, 1-0 vRRO,
   St Thomas           23-2, SOS .565, 9-1 vRRO
   St Benedict           22-3, SOS .538, 4-3 vRRO
   Gustavus Adolphus  20-5, SOS .539, 2-5 vRRO
   Bethel (MN)           18-7, SOS .553, 2-5 vRRO

In that west region, it's interesting if the national committee will end up ranking Wartburg or UST #1.  Looks like a push to me.  Even so, will they try to split up the #1 and #2 in any region? 

A Wheaton win over Carthage on Friday will boost Wheaton's so-so SOS a little as will facing IWU again for another vRRO.  I still believe they look strong to get in, despite 2 wins that aren't counting which I was a little more worried about at one point.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Having now looked over the situation a bit more, I think Wheaton is very safe for a Pool C.  The only scenario where they would probably not make it would be Carthage or Elmhurst shock us all by winning the AQ, AND UWW fail to win the WIAC AQ.  In that case, Wheaton (already behind WashU in the 'getting to the table' line from the Central) would drop to FOURTH in line - which might be too high a hurdle to overcome.

[iwu70]

Ypsi, for Wheaton's sake, let's hope not many upsets to currently leading conference AQ contenders.

IWU has to keep up the good, intense play -- win again over EC for the third time, then take on the challenge of WC and their shot-blocking bigs for the rubber match.  A few head fakes might be in order . . . and taking it right to the bodies of those big post players. 

Should be a wonderful weekend of high-quality basketball at The Shirk.  Wish I could be there.  I'll be watching.

Hope you are well -- with soon some portents of Spring in evidence.

'70

[iwu70]

GoPerry, thanks for all the data on the top teams, most of them likely headed for the D3 tournament.  IWU and WC will just have to buck up and play some of the best.  Likely only a few first and second round easier games.  Then, all good teams with 20+ wins.   The Wartburgs, Trines, Hope, Chicago, WI-WW and all the rest are out there.  Rose-Hulman played the TITANS very tough earlier, and IWU lost to WW only by a narrow margin.  We'll see in the 2nd, 3rd round games, all tough match-ups, who has really improved and who has the fitness and depth at this point in the season.  Coaching, defense and FT % often the difference between moving on or going home.  Many close games upcoming.

'70

[GoPerry]

How about this for all-CCIW?
1st : M Eppard ELM, R Ehresman IWU, H Frazier WHE, D Kyler WHE, M Kaelber CTG, M Merritt IWU, M Harris CTG, A Jones AUG
2nd : M Dansdill WHE, M McGraw IWU, K Jones ELM, B Gilbert CTG, D Curry MIL, B Wald CRL, M Whipple NCC, S Sloan NPU

It's a good list RogK.  I think I'd probably go with Devin Curry for 1st team over Augie's Alexis Jones.  While deserving, I'm not sure Kyler will make 1st team with a pretty low scoring avg.

Also, I wonder to what extent do coaches begin with the underclassmen of last year's All Conf team and presume they should receive strong consideration for this season's team as their starting point?  In many cases, it would be a decent shortcut but not appropriate in others.  If this is part of the method for some coaches then McGraw might sneak onto the 1st team and Kelly Lawson might even get in also.  Both were unanimous 1st teamers last year. 

[iwu70]

RogK, I like your All-Conference list.  May be a few changes here and there, but I think you've hit it pretty well. 

Coach of the Year Mia Smith.  MOP likely Eppard or Ehresman.  My vote for Freshman of the Year goes to Raven Hughes of IWU. 

We'll know later today.

Good basketball this weekend at The Shirk.  Hopefully, the rubber match between Wheaton and IWU Saturday evening -- and both teams getting bids for the D3 Dance.   

IWU'70

[RogK]

If it's Newcomer of the Year (not necessarily a freshman) then it's probably Hannah Frazier. If they restrict it to freshmen, Hughes would be favored. In fact, I'd have zero objection if she made 2nd team all-conf. That .674 FG% is remarkable, and she does a number of other things well, too.
Speaking of remarkable shooting, Devin Curry finished with a .922 FT pct (237/257) for her career.
14-15 : 33/36 .917
15-16 : 44/47 .936
16-17 : 87-92 .946
17-18 : 73-82 .890
We should find out if .922 set a national record. Going into this season, she held the career best within CCIW play.

[iwu70]

That FT shooting by Devin Curry is truly amazing, off the charts. Congrats to her on an amazing career.  Maddie Merritt is on course for a Titan program record FT%, best in an IWU uniform for a career -- at something like 86% -- but nothing close to Curry's amazing record. 

I take your point on Hannah Frazier.  Raven Hughes has such a great career ahead, such an amazing upside for the TITANS -- along with the others in her freshmen group -- Munroe, Sosa and Brovelli.  A good future for all of them. Shanks will return from injury -- Schneider, Merritt, and Anderson all returning. 

Looking forward to WC-IWU on Saturday evening, if that's how it all plays out.

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

Speaking of remarkable shooting, Devin Curry finished with a .922 FT pct (237/257) for her career.
14-15 : 33/36 .917
15-16 : 44/47 .936
16-17 : 87-92 .946
17-18 : 73-82 .890
We should find out if .922 set a national record. Going into this season, she held the career best within CCIW play.

So the good news about Curry is that the D3 record for free throw percentage is 89.0 percent. The bad news is that for their records, you have to make a minimum of 250, so she wouldn't qualify. I'd assume her CCIW record will still stand though.

Coach of the Year Mia Smith.  MOP likely Eppard or Ehresman.  My vote for Freshman of the Year goes to Raven Hughes of IWU.

I'd agree Mia Smith should run away with the Coach of the Year award. 15-1 is 15-1 and the sheer dominance Wesleyan had all year, I don't think you could make an argument otherwise. Not knowing the exact definition of the Newcomer of the Year award (freshman or any first year player, but the award has only gone to freshmen so far) it's hard to pin down the winner of that award. Given precedent, I'd probably agree on Hughes.

MOP... let's pull the numbers. (In parentheses indicate conference rank)

Stat	Ehresman	Eppard
PPG	10.7(14)	17.8(1)
RPG	5.0(15)	10.8(1)
APG	4.8(1)	2.0(nr)
SPG	3.3(1)	1.2(nr)
BPG	0.4(nr)	0.6(13)
FG%	.415(nr)	.549(4)
3P%	.341(nr*)	.200(nr)
FT%	.742(10)	.748(9)
A-TO	3.56(1)	0.63(nr)

*Ehresman would rank 12th, but did not qualify

I guess the question remains this: which is more "outstanding," Eppard averaging almost 18 and 11 or Ehresman averaging double figures plus five boards a game plus almost five assists per game plus outstanding defense? I know it's hard to compare guards to forwards and an 18-11 with a high FG percentage is hard to vote against, but Ehresman was more outstanding on both ends of the floor. She gets my vote but I wouldn't blame any coach who voted for Eppard.

[RogK]

Thanks for looking into the FT% record, lmitzel. There clearly has to be an arbitrary minimum quantity for makes and 250 is reasonable. If a player has four years of 25 games, 100 total, then expecting 2.5 makes per game is not excessive.
Incidentally, what the record holder did beyond what Curry did was hit 40/52.

[lmitzel]

So this is a couple weeks old at this point, but one of the suburban arms of the Tribune had a nice article about former Cardinal player and GA Maryssa Cladis in her officiating career.

I don't know if we'll get to see her working a CCIW game anytime soon, but it would be pretty cool.

[RogK]

Congrats to all honored today :
2018 CCIW Most Outstanding Player
Rebekah Ehresman - Illinois Wesleyan
                                                         2018 CCIW Coach of the Year
                                                          Mia Smith - Illinois Wesleyan
2018 CCIW Newcomer of the Year
Hannah Frazier - Wheaton

FIRST TEAM
Brittney Wald    Carroll
Morgan Harris    Carthage
Madie Kaelber    Carthage
Mikaela Eppard*    Elmhurst
Rebekah Ehresman*    Illinois Wesleyan
Molly McGraw    Illinois Wesleyan
Maggie Dansdill*    Wheaton
Hannah Frazier*    Wheaton
asterisk = unanimous
SECOND TEAM
Izzy Anderson    Augustana
Bailey Gilbert    Carthage
Maddie Merritt    Illinois Wesleyan
Ashley Schneider Illinois Wesleyan
Devin Curry    Millikin
Mayson Whipple North Central
Devin Kyler    Wheaton
Kelly Lawson    Wheaton
--------
One Bluejay? Also, I think if there was a draft of players, Devin Kyler would be selected no lower than 4th.

[GoPerry]

Congratulations to all those selected to the All-CCIW team. 

Mia Smith(COY) and Hannah Frazier (Newcomer) were no brainers I think.  Without knowing how the votes fell for Ehresman, in the end they got that one right to take nothing away from a deserving Mikaela Eppard.

While slightly surprised, I'm delighted that the coaches unanimously recognized Maggie Dansdill for 1st team and the huge strides she made this year as a leader for the Thunder.  Not flashy but steady and does a whole bunch of things well for the team.

[lmitzel]

I'm glad they've finally established that Newcomer does mean that the award can go to a non-freshman. It clarifies things a lot.

All in all I don't think I can complain about the All-CCIW Teams either way. The obvious choices for unanimous selection all got it.