WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

Tough loss for the TITANS in Decatur.  I think it was 75-71 MU.

IWU:

Sosa 30
Lansford 16
Shanks 10

Some foul troubles for the TITANS, esp. Brovelli and Lowis

For MU:

Ratsch 14
Hildebrand 13
Staton 11
Fox 10 and 7

Great win for MU, proving how much they have risen and improved into the top tier of CCIW play.  Congrats to coach Lett and her team for this big win over IWU.  Long time coming . . .

Should be some great games in the CCIW tournament for the AQ.

IWU'70

Millikin made all kinds of great plays down in the last 2 mins to get the win.  Pretty impressive.  Plus a big student turnout to support the Big Blue.

Very surprised at that last play with 11 sec, IWU with the ball down 2 trying to tie.  Sosa was never even in the play.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Millikin 73
Illinois Wesleyan 71

Much rejoicing in Chicago and Wheaton!

Actually, 75-71.  Kendall Sosa had 30, Brooke Lansford 16, Sydney Shanks 10, Riley Brovelli 7, but little help from anyone else.  Reigning POW Catie Eck played only 6 minutes and got 2 pts; Anna Lowis fouled out after only 11 minutes and no pts.  Millikin, on the other hand, had SEVEN players with 7 or more pts. 

Something I had NEVER seen before (or at least had never noticed) - Olivia Lett coached the game in spike heels!   Is that something she has trademarked (like Grey Giovanine's sport-coat toss), or was this a one-time (for whatever reason) thing?  For someone not at all unfamiliar with usual court footwear, it seemed weird!

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 62
North Park 53

Well, that one-game lead was fun while it lasted ... which was about an hour or so.

[Gregory Sager]

CC 62, NPU 53

Jayla Johnson: 23 pts, 3 stls
Josie Summerville: 7 rebs

Sammie Woodward: 19 pts
Autumn Kalis: 16 pts
Maggie Berigan: 10 pts, 6 rebs
Kelsey Coshun: 6 rebs
Amanda Larson: 3 stls

Carthage just plain outplayed NPU tonight. Neither team shot well until the fourth quarter, but the Lady Reds played tighter D than the Vikings in the second half. In the first half it was easy-peasy to play D against NPU ... crowd the lane to cut off drivers and post-entry passes, and then get set to grab a long rebound as the Park inevitably missed a trey attempt. (The Vikings were 4-22 from beyond the arc on the evening.) Once again, NPU got caught in the trap of not having an effective second option on offense, as Jayla Johnson was the only Viking who scored more than seven points.

NPU has now lost three of its last four. The Vikings are staggering to the finish line. It's a minor miracle that they're still in first place at this point. Fortunately, that bye on Saturday will be coming at the right time. The problem is, by the end of Saturday night, the Vikings will no longer be all alone in first place, as they'll be tied with the IWU @ WC winner.

[GoPerry]

NCC 56  Augustana 54

Allison Pearson with 17 pts, 6 rebs while Haydn Braun added 15 pts.  Lauren Hall led the Vikes with 15 pts, 10 rebs.  Alexis Jones had a rough shooting night 3/14 for 10 pts but grabbed 14 rebs.

This was a game the Cardinals absolutely had to win to stay in contention for a CCIW tourney bid keeping pace with Carthage and going just ahead of Augie in the loss column.  Even so they have a tough remaining schedule @Carroll, @ IWU, @Wheaton.

[iwu70]

Now the big one:  IWU @ Wheaton Saturday.

So much basketball still to be played. 

MU played very well at home vs. IWU tonight.  I agree that last play, with 11 secs to go, last shot by Shanks, probably not the best set-up.  Sosa had a great game with 30, though Syd has made game winning shots before.   The foul trouble by Brovelli and Lowis played a big part in this loss. 

On to Wheaton . . . 


IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Great win for MU, proving how much they have risen and improved into the top tier of CCIW play.

You keep elevating Millikin into the top tier, Mark, but you're not looking at the standings:

North Park	10-4
Wheaton	9-4
Illinois Wesleyan	9-4
Millikin	7-6

Sorry, but being two games out of second and 2 1/2 out of first isn't "top tier."

[RogK]

Saw the Carthage - North Park game. Lady Reds coach Bernero has to be happy that Maggie Berigan is returning to a nicely productive level of play, with no evident effect of earlier injury.
And Kalis and Woodward are playing like, well ... Kalis and Woodward.
North Park is a little off-balance lately, but nothing alarming, I'd say. Might have to tweak something or other.
Elmhurst needed overtime to prevail over Carroll 87-78.
The victors got 16 pts each from Courtney O'Donnell, Kween Jean and Sophia Lathe.
Marissa Urso tallied 13, Lauren Goff grabbed 9 rebs and Kelly Weyhrich had 7 assists.
Among the Pioneers who did well :
Brooke Foster 21 pts (.594 eFG%) 7 rebs, Katie Evans 17 pts (.850 eFG%), Elizabeth Behrndt 7 rebs, 3 blocks 2 steals. Alyssa Cruz had 13 pts, 8 rebs , 7 assists (although 6 TOs) and a pair of steals.

[RogK]

the rest of the ladder (to use an Australian rules Football League term) :
6-7 CTG NCC
6-8 AUG
4-10 ELM
3-10 CRL

[iwu70]

Well, Greg, they surely have improved over recent years.  Should they finish in the top four in the league, I'd consider them top tier.  We'll see.  They played well against IWU tonight, getting their win.  NPU staggering at this point.  I need not quibble over words, but MU are a lot better than previously.  Enuff said.

Big game at WC now. . .  hope the IWU bigs/rebounders can stay out of foul trouble on Saturday.  Sosa still in the mix for MOP, IMHO. 

'70

[GoPerry]

Great win for MU, proving how much they have risen and improved into the top tier of CCIW play.

You keep elevating Millikin into the top tier, Mark, but you're not looking at the standings:

North Park	10-4
Wheaton	9-4
Illinois Wesleyan	9-4
Millikin	7-6

Sorry, but being two games out of second and 2 1/2 out of first isn't "top tier."

. .  in fact, MU is not even guaranteed to make the conference tournament . . .  a game up with 3 to play, but not yet assured

[Gregory Sager]

Choosing a rooting interest between Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan isn't typically difficult, but it's nevertheless an unpleasant task under any circumstances. This time, though, I can at least swing my sympathies in the direction of NPU's biggest rivalry by rooting against Wheaton. (It's much, much easier to think of it as "rooting against Wheaton," a concept as natural as breathing for me, than "rooting for Illinois Wesleyan," four words that turn my stomach.) In CCIW women's basketball, it's like trying to figure out which neighborhood bully you're more likely to be able to reason with. However, once in, all in ... heck, I might even wear something green on Saturday, although I'll probably confine myself to wearing it between 5 and 7 pm.

The fact of the matter is that, among the three teams in the top tier, all three season series will be splits if the Titans prevail on Saturday. Furthermore, NPU would own the ladder tiebreaker over IWU (at least until Wednesday), since the Vikings are 1-0 to date against fourth-place Millikin, while IWU has split its season series against the Big Blue. So there's two incentives to hope for a Titans win at King Arena on Saturday afternoon.

If Wheaton wins, the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance not only move into a tie for first with North Park, they'll have the most ironclad of ladder tiebreakers possible at this point by having gone 2-0 against Wesleyan versus NPU's 1-1 against the Greenies. What makes it so (relatively) ironclad is that the only way it defaults is if IWU falls all the way into the fourth seed (or worse) over the course of the next ten days while Millikin advances to the third seed, and that's extremely unlikely to happen.

[iwu70]

Thanks for all the options, scenarios, Greg.  I hope you will post a picture here of you wearing green. That would be something!  I know how hard it is for you . . .

Yes, MU still has some work to do to get into the top four.  I think they will do it.  Let the games be played.  You know how it is, Ypsi and I have our opinions, no matter. 

A good, fun conference regular season race.  NPU having a great season.

IWU'70

[RogK]

reviewing what happened when Saturday's matchups played in January :
Wheaton won at IWU 62-59. WHE Kirsten Madsen 15, Hannah Frazier 14; IWU Kendall Sosa 23.
-
North Central, at home, topped Carroll 62-60. Eight players (4 on each team) score in double figures, 10-16.
-
Elmhurst won at Millikin 64-53. 19 pts by Kween Jean, 14 by Becca Gerke.
-
double OT thriller in Kenosha : Carthage 90 Augie 84. AUG Gabriela Loiz 32 pts, Alexis Jones 19 rebs; CTG Sammie Woodward 31, Autumn Kalis 27. That's NBA-style productivity.

[RogK]

Four teams have completed the home or road portion of their conference play.
North Park was 6-2 at home.
North Central was 4-4 at home.
Augustana was 2-6 on the road.
Carroll was 2-6 on the road.