WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Old Hoosier Baller]

The Elmhurst-Wheaton game was a good battle last night.  Hats off to Wheaton for a hard-fought victory. 

[RogK]

thundermike and OHB, I agree with all that you stated about last night's EC-Wheaton game.
The Thunder was a quicker team early in the 1st half and late in the 2nd half. Elmhurst was dominant for roughly the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the contest, but their main players were worn out by the end; that said, they certainly didn't stop trying. Lyndsie Long in particular gave a huge effort, scoring 29 and grabbing 15 rebounds, both career highs.
Elmhurst did make the defensive mistake of straying away from Lynnea Kvam, allowing her to bury 3 of 6 threes for an efficient 9 points. Kvam also had 3 assists and 2 steals, while playing solid defense.
Just about everyone on Wheaton played defense tight enough to make Elmhurst's passing difficult.

[thundermike11]

Elmhurst did make the defensive mistake of straying away from Lynnea Kvam, allowing her to bury 3 of 6 threes for an efficient 9 points. Kvam also had 3 assists and 2 steals, while playing solid defense.

Not to nitpick, but did they really make defensive mistakes on Lynnea? All of her points were in the first half and at least two of the threes were from well behind the men's line with a hand in her face. That's just the sign of a good shooter, I think the defense on her was actually very good for most of the game seeing as she only took six shots.

[RogK]

I recall some straying. I also agree that she's a very good shooter, one that warrants constant attention. A defender should stay within a foot or two of her at all times (anywhere in the front court) and let the other four defenders take care of the rest of the defensive duties. That's how highly I regard Kvam's ability.

[RogK]

thundermike, can you tell us about Lindsey Brenneman, who has established a place in the Wheaton starting lineup. From her season stats, I see 21 assists and only 14 turnovers.

[thundermike11]

thundermike, can you tell us about Lindsey Brenneman, who has established a place in the Wheaton starting lineup. From her season stats, I see 21 assists and only 14 turnovers.

Lindsey is just a really steady, dependable point guard. She has a decent stroke, but I think it is going to take some time for her to develop into a consistent scoring threat (she's only shooting like 12% or something for the season). But she's a great ballhandler who doesn't shy away from pressure and she knows how to run the offense. Defensively, she is very good--a by-product of being matched up with Kathleen Fidelia for most of the season in practice.

[RogK]

Extractions from last night's other box scores :
North Central won at Augustana, 67-60. NC's Meghan McGuire tallied 17 and teammate Brianne Parra added 16, each doing so in 20 minutes. For Augie, Kristin Fox had 17 pts, 4 steals and 3 assists.
Carthage over Millikin 63-51... Lisa Gartelos led all with 19 pts (in 18:00).
In a game that featured 71 free throws and 48 fouls, Illinois Wesleyan felled North Park, 92-48. IWU's Colleen Caplice topped all with 11 rebounds in 21:00, adding 3 steals and 8 points. Five Titans scored either 11 or 14.
Although there were those 48 fouls, no player fouled out. I wonder where all the unused fifth fouls go.

[thundermike11]

Just to add to my earlier post, Lindsey Brenneman and Annie Bowen have really stepped up huge and solidified Wheaton's starting five. Those two spots had been sort of a revolving door until the trip to Texas, when those two really stepped up and started playing really well.

[RogK]

Brianne Parra swished a very difficult three pointer to give North Central a 65-62 win at Elmhurst. Known for her power near the basket, she showed a nice touch from distance. She finished with 20 pts, 8 rebs.
This offset a sparkling performance by EC's Brittany Bobruk, who rang up 26 pts, 6 blocks, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Lyndsie Long was held to 10 pts, which I believe brings her to exactly 1000 for the career.
For the victors, Jessica Davis scored 15, Gia Navarra had 9 rebounds and Meghan McGuire had 16 pts, 10 rebs.
The Bluejays' Anna Randazzo appears to be regaining her zippy speed; she had 8 pts and 4 assists in 17:00.
Celebrity sightings included Carthage players Katie Klemke and Carlie Janowiak, having a look at their next opponents. I think they really were supposed to be in their rooms studying chemistry and Venezuelan history.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I see Millikin gave IWU all they could handle today, tied with under 3 to go, down only 2 with under a minute, before falling by six.  I've read the Millikin release, but anyone have first-hand reports?

I was glad to see it.  This is the first single-digit d3 game since the opening tournament in St. Louis - a team can get bad habits when everything is too easy.

[Hoosier Titan]

It was indeed a close and hard-fought game in Decatur today.  The Big Blue were very effective in the first half and early in the second in directing the pace of the game.  They clearly did not want to run with the Titans.  They were seldom caught by the Titan press, often turning it to their advantage by getting the ball up court to their post players.   IWU did not help their own cause with poor shooting in the first half (37.5% overall, 25% on 3's and just 2/6 on free throws).  The Big Blue led 34-30 at the break.

The Titans picked up their intensity in the second half, and they were successful in increasing the pace of the game.  It took until the 8:15 mark to tie the game, however.  After Mallory Heydorn's layup at 7:26 the Titans never trailed again.  They were also more effect both at getting to the free throw line and at converting their shots, shooting 11/16 in the second half. 

Whitney Schwartz led the Big Blue with 14, while Elise Wildman and Tracie Yantis each had 11.  Claire Sheehan led the Titans with 22, Christina Solari had 8 points and 10 rebounds, Hope Schulte had 7 points and 9 rebounds, Stacey Arlis had 9 points, and Kylie Castans had 7 points and 6 rebounds.  While Heydorn scored only the one basket, she played 19 quality minutes and was credited with 3 assists.  The Titans outrebounded the Big Blue, one of D3's top rebounding teams, 41-28.

Definitely a gut check game for the Titans.  The Big Blue had a good game plan and they executed it well.  Winning the game took the entire 40 minutes and a real team effort.

[RogK]

Jamie Jones poured in 22 pts to lead Wheaton over Augustana 75-47.
Lindsey Brenneman had 5 steals and 5 assists.
Lisa Ballenger was 5/5 FG and 4/4 FT in 10:00.
For Aug, Lani Kasten scored 21, had 13 rebs and 3 assists.

Carthage topped North Park 89-43.
Katie Jarger shot 100%, scoring 15 in 14:00.
Carlie Janowiak blocked five shots (presumably all North Park attempts).
Shana Lieberman was very productive in her 14:00 : 3 steals, 7 pts, 7 assists.
Cory Bazany had 9 pts and 5 reb in 12:00.

[thundermike11]

A very important game in Decatur tomorrow night. It would be huge for Wheaton if they could win on the road against Millikin and be 4-0 going into their game against IWU on Saturday. Wheaton has yet to play a "big gun", so they could make a statement tomorrow with a win.

It's kind of the opposite story for Millikin. They have already played IWU and Carthage and come in to the game 1-2. If they lose, they will be at 1-3 and have a bit of a hole to climb out of--making their games against the "lower" teams even more of must-wins. And Millikin is coming off an emotional loss to IWU, so they may be a bit drained from that.

Needless to say, I think this is going to be a great game and hopefully Wheaton can pick up a big win

[RogK]

Congratulations to NC's Brianne Parra for being CCIW Player of the Week.

[AndOne]

North Central 80, North Park 44 last night. Wow.

http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/athletics/stats/basketball_w/08-09/wbk14.htm