WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Is Millikin perhaps the surprise team of the year in the CCIW?   We all knew that Coach Lett would be doing good things there after a few cycles.  Perhaps this is their year?

I think Wheaton still the favorite.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Much as I know that you're salivating to mention Olivia Lett's alma mater in every other post about Millikin, Mark , the fact of the matter is that the Big Blue haven't done anything worthy of notice yet, much less made themselves worthy of pronouncement as "the surprise team of the year in the CCIW" or speculation that "perhaps this is their year." Like NPU, the other remaining undefeated team in the CCIW, Millikin has yet to face a challenging opponent. Thus far, the Big Blue have easily dispatched Greenville (1-3), Westminster (MO) (1-3), MSOE (1-2), and Beloit (0-3) -- all teams that any decent CCIW squad should be able to whip in their sleep.

MU's fifth victim, Eureka, would appear at first blush to be in a different category. The Red Devils are 3-1 and are coming off of back-to-back 20-8 and 18-8 seasons. But those three Eureka wins were also over really weak teams (Rockford, Knox, and St. Mary of the Woods), and, 18-8 record or not, last season Eureka lost by nine points on its own floor to a Millikin team that impressed nobody.

The long and short of it is this: MU always plays a weak non-conference schedule. Always. It's true in just about every sport. Logistics is a big reason why; Decatur is so far downstate that it's practical for Big Blue teams to play lots of SLIAC opponents (e.g., Greenville, Westminster (MO), and Eureka), which has a tendency to fatten up Millikin W-L records. A good rule of thumb in the CCIW is: Never give Millikin the benefit of the doubt until the Big Blue start playing CCIW opponents.

Now, having said that, it's very plausible that Millikin is getting better. Lett retained the best underclassman from the Kerans era, All-CCIW second-teamer Jordan Hildebrand, had a productive first recruiting cycle that brought in two legit starters in Aubrey Staton and Jazmin Brown, and now it appears that she's added some useful size in freshmen Abby Ratsch and Bailey Coffman, another rotation guard in Miranda Fox, and a juco-transfer PG in Aubrey Magro. But let's not pronounce judgment upon the Big Blue until they actually play somebody. You don't see me getting all fired up and saying stuff like "perhaps this is their year" for a North Park team that hasn't faced a worthy opponent yet, and I see no reason to regard Millikin any differently.

Tell you what, Mark: Millikin hosts Wheaton on Pearl Harbor Day, which is less than two weeks away. How about if we wait until after that game to assess the Big Blue?

[RogK]

I'd also say it's too early to make any conclusions about Lett and Millikin.
I do like how Lett has three freshmen playing 20-21 minutes per game so far, meshing well with five veteran teammates in the regular rotation.
I don't like the phrase "their year." (tough luck, RogK, live with it)

[lmitzel]

I'll kind of echo Greg and Rog on here. Obviously I haven't seen Millikin play any games yet, but I figured coming off of last year that they'd have something to build off of. They looked all right when they came to Naperville almost a year ago, building a huge lead and just barely hanging on to open CCIW play with a win. They bring back some good pieces from that squad and, on paper, can contend for a CCIW Tournament spot.

But, as the cliche goes, basketball is not played on paper. I've always noticed the same things for Millikin in terms of their non-conference schedule, saw them with an unbeaten record so far this year, but wasn't sure who exactly they'd played yet. Seeing the list Greg posted doesn't surprise me. It's not a knock on Lett or her Big Blue squad; it's the reality of Division III hoops being to some degree regional in nature and that based on budgets and what have you that their ability to play many teams outside that SLIAC sphere is somewhat limited. It'll be interesting to see what they can do even beyond that Wheaton game; getting Illinois Wesleyan to open up the 2020 portion of the slate will be a good barometer too.

[RogK]

Congrats to Jayla Johnson, new CCIW Player of the Week!

[Gregory Sager]

[iwu70]

Thanks, guys, for all the details, assessments on Lett and MU.  I'm sure you know much more about this than I do.  Yes, we'll see in time if MU is improving and making a move up the ladder to the higher tier of CCIW women's roundball.  I wish them well, and always wish Olivia Lett well, in her efforts for the Millikin team. 

'70

[iwu70]

IWU at #21 in the week-one women's D3hoops poll. 

Some good games upcoming, esp. if they get to play Wash U or DePauw. 

CCIW schedule about to begin.  Should be a great race . . .

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 66 Dominican 54

Hannah Williams     13 pts
Jill Berg      11 pts, 12 rebs, 6 blks
Bonnie Zeller      11 pts , 5-5, 1-1 3pt
Hannah Frazier      8 pts, 7 rebs, 3 stls
Jordan Myroth      10 rebs, 7 asst

Tamiya Ray       20 pts, 10 rebs

The Thunder Ladies never trailed in this one, leading by as many as 19 pts in the third quarter.  The Stars really had a tough time matching Wheaton's size as their tallest player maxes out at 6'1" but all others are 5'9" and down from there.  Nice game from Jill Berg who showed a little more scoring aggressiveness.  Having a healthy Hannah Williams gives the team another solid scoring option. Bonnie Zeller is a perfect 8-8, 3-3 3pt from the field in her last two games.  Hannah Frazier has been struggling from the field of late.  Alot of the misses tonight were bunnies from close in that she'd normally convert.

Wheaton heads out west this weekend to play two games at UC-Santa Cruz before returning to start the CCIW season.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  If you're traveling, be safe. 

[lmitzel]

I'm taking a step back from announcing for the NCC women this year with an almost seven week old at home, but with a doubleheader last night I got to Merner for the final couple minutes of NCC's 70-56 loss to Benedictine. It was a two point Eagle lead at halftime (eerily, both games had the same halftime score), and the Eagles got hot in the second half (shot 53% after managing just a 19% clip in the first) while the Cardinals did not (shot pretty consistently for the night, only 32%, with a 3-23 night from deep).

North Central didn't really have an answer for Allison Michalski (20-7 on 8/21 shooting) or Alex Fanning (18-10 on 5/9 shooting). Allison Pearson paced the Cardinals with 16 points, Lyndsay Brennan added nine, and Natali Dimitrova came off the bench in her first action in two weeks with a 1/7 shooting line. Talking to people between games it sounded like she didn't really look like herself, but I saw her in a boot a couple weeks ago, so I'm sure she's still recovering to some degree.

[RogK]

Given how reliably outstanding Hannah Frazier has been, one has to figure that she is bothered by some sort of nagging injury.
Last night, I attended UChicago's comfortable win over RHIT (who has some very promising freshmen).
Two thorough wipeouts in the CCIW :
Carroll 99 Holy Family (Wisc. / NAIA) 38. Fifteen Pios scored in this one, including Kayla Stefka (19 in 13:00), Katie Evans (14 in 14:00), Megan Madsen (12 in 14:00). Carroll took 73% of the rebounds.
UW Whitewater 111-51 over Elmhurst. 14-0 to begin the contest. 81-30 after 3. Yikes.
Courtney O'Donnell scored 20 in the 4th Q to prevent the margin from worsening.

[RogK]

Carthage 73-47 over UW Stevens Point. Flawless shooting by Madie Kaelber who tallied 18 (incl 5 threes). Sammie Woodward (.714 eFG%) had 21 pts, 4 assists, 5 rebs. Kelsey Coshun had a productive 22 min, with 13 pts (5/9 2FG, 3/3 FT) and 5 rebs.
Augustana 65-52 over Monmouth :
Gabriela Loiz had 14 pts and 5 rebs, while Mia Lambert and Jeni Crain each scored 11. Lauren Hall led Augie's rebounding with 8.

[RogK]

Well, Millikin is no longer 5-0.
The Big Blue defeated Webster, 78-56.
Briana Anthony made nearly all of her shots scoring 23 in 22:00 -- 5/5 2FG, 3/4 3FG, 4/5 FT.
Bailey Coffman had 19 pts, 10 rebs. Jordan Hildebrand helped with 11 pts and 5 steals.
Somehow cciw.org WBB stats include the Millikin men's loss to Alma. (update - this has been fixed)

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 71
St. Mary's (IN) 59

Emily Czuhajewski: 15 pts (5-7 trey)
Zakiya Newsome: 10 pts, 4:0 a:to
Sinead Molloy: 4:1 a:to, 5 stls
Angelina Villasin: 3:1 a:to

The Vikings picked up Jayla Johnson on an afternoon in which she wasn't sharp, as they ballhawked their way to 15 steals against a Belles team that had no answer for NPU's quickness. The Vikings will head into CCIW play with a 5-0 record, although it must be said again that they really haven't had to face a challenging opponent yet.

Emily Czuhajewski is some kind of shooter. She's now 13-23 (.565) from beyond the arc.

[Enginerd]

Given how reliably outstanding Hannah Frazier has been, one has to figure that she is bothered by some sort of nagging injury.
Last night, I attended UChicago's comfortable win over RHIT (who has some very promising freshmen).
Two thorough wipeouts in the CCIW :
Carroll 99 Holy Family (Wisc. / NAIA) 38. Fifteen Pios scored in this one, including Kayla Stefka (19 in 13:00), Katie Evans (14 in 14:00), Megan Madsen (12 in 14:00). Carroll took 73% of the rebounds.
UW Whitewater 111-51 over Elmhurst. 14-0 to begin the contest. 81-30 after 3. Yikes.
Courtney O'Donnell scored 20 in the 4th Q to prevent the margin from worsening.

RogK - RHIT has taken a couple beatings out of the gate this season, but injuries and multiple transfers (lost two outstanding freshmen last season and one this season before the season even began) due to the rigors of the school's academics, have left them with only eight players this season. I've heard a lot of great things about this freshmen class, with even more on the way next year apparently - but would like to know what you think after having seen them play in person? I watched online, and the Engineers really showed some flashes and looked as though they played Chicago tough, and, with the exception of the disastrous 2nd quarter where Chicago made five-six 3-pointers, basically played the Maroons even. They will have to REALLY put things together to avoid an 0-4 start and, since I've been hearing about this class for a long time, I was curious what an outside observer thinks...