WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Millikin and NPU win . . .

Looks like NPU hosts IWU yet again in Chicago for Semis.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 55
Carthage 50

Jayla Johnson: 17 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls
Josie Summerville: 10 pts, 11 rebs, 3 stls
Emily Czuhajewski: 10 pts
Sinead Molloy: 3 stls

Kelsey Coshun: 11 pts
Bridget Barrett: 15 rebs

My heart sank when Wheaton dropped out and NPU's opponent was switched from Augustana to Carthage. Augie may have been the higher seed, but the Vikings dispatched that team easily both times, while they had all kinds of trouble with the Firebirds both previous times they faced them. Sure enough, tonight was no different. Carthage did a really solid job on defense, NPU froze up and went into one of its periodic offensive funks, and the Firebirds turned a 30-21 deficit into a 44-36 lead early in the fourth quarter.

But the Vikings wore down the Firebirds with their inside game, getting both Kelsey Coshun and Addison Ebeling in foul trouble, and Tim Bernero ran out of defensive options as the Vikes kept pounding it inside to Jayla Johnson and Josie Summerville. Add in the usual key late FTs that are Zakiya Newsome's trademark and some high-octane defense by the Park, and the hosts had enough juice to get to the finish line and set up the first-ever four-game series against an opponent in one season in program history, as Illinois Wesleyan will be coming to town yet again on Saturday afternoon.

Congratulations to Jayla Johnson, whose and-one in the closing minutes pushed her up over 1,000 points for her career. It's so great to see a person like Jayla who is as impressive off the floor as she is on it succeed like this.

[iwu70]

Congratulations to Jayla Johnson on her 1,000 point achievement.  Great player. 

'70

[GoPerry]

Lots of players MIA in this game.

Millikin, without diaper dandy Elyce Knudsen as well as regulars Abby Ratsch and Aubrey Staton took care of business over North Central 86-70.  The scoring fell to Bailey Coffman who led all scorers with 21 pts, 7 rebs, Jordan Hildebrand with 14 and 7, and Miranda Fox with 13 pts.  Freshman Ashlyn Sturdy played  26 mins (averaging about 10) and contributed 10 pts and 7 rebs.

It obviously hurt that the Cards were playing without leading scorer junior Allison Pearson and leading rebounder IxChel Leeuwenburgh.  Freshman Elle Sutter led with 18 pts while Haydn Braun and Rebekah Foley each had 14.

[RogK]

Carroll edged Augustana 67-61 so all higher seeds won yesterday.
Carroll plays at Millikin on Saturday, the first time they meet this season.
IWU travels a third time to Foster-Kedzie Arena to encounter North Park for the fourth time this season.
It looks like both games are at 2pm.

[Gregory Sager]

Foster-Kedzie Arena

OK, that got a chuckle out of me.

[RogK]

And, by the way, it's not too late for the CCIW coaches to hold their annual vote that forecasts the conference standings.
The W in CCIW is Wisconsin, noted dairy state, where someone must have said, "By the way, buy the whey."
I do apologize for that one.

[WLCALUM83]

RogK, they don't refer to us Wisconsinites as "Cheeseheads" for nothing. 

[RogK]

WLCALUM83, can you verify that Wisconsin used to issue license plates that featured the slogan "COME SMELL OUR DAIRY AIR" ?

[Mr. Ypsi]

You're startin' to push it, Rog.  I doubt that Wiscy ever had such license plates, but I've used that phrase often!  (A variation on passing a skunk or a pig farm and saying 'Ah!  That fresh country air!')

[RogK]

I watched the 1st quarter of IWU v NPU, where it seemed hardly anyone had a green light to shoot.
Saw the 2nd quarter of CRL v MIL and any number of players had the green light, not to mention fine ball movement by both teams.
Millikin up 58-47; 20 1st half pts by Elyce Knudsen.
North Park is ahead 27-20.

[iwu70]

In a strange ugly game, a tale of two halfs, IWU over NPU 53-42

NPU over IWU in the 1st half 27-20, then
IWU over NPU in the 2nd, 33-15.

First half one of the worst IWU has played all year.  Good second half comeback with defensive intensity.  Sosa striking the key offensive blows.

NPU:

Jayla Johnson 20

IWU:

Sosa 28
Lansford 8
Brovelli 9 rebounds

Eck and Bowen made many defensive contributions.

So MU wins, and will host IWU for the Tournament Crown. 

Should be a good one in Decatur.   Mia Smith vs. Olivia Lett . . . two good teams, two good coaches.

Congrats to the NPU Seniors. 

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 53
North Park 42

Jayla Johnson: 20 pts, 14 rebs
Sinead Molloy: 3:0 a:to

Kendall Sosa: 28 pts, 3 stls
Riley Brovelli: 9 rebs
Anna Lowis: 7 rebs
Brooke Lansford: 3 stls
Catie Eck: 3 stls

After a first half in which North Park absolutely stifled Illinois Wesleyan's offense -- the Titans only had seven field goals in the first two quarters -- and had a couple of ten-point leads, IWU came out for the second half and played with an efficiency and execution much more characteristic of the Titans, while NPU simply did not respond in kind.

It was disappointing to see the Vikings go so flat in what turned out to be the last 20 minutes of the season, but it's a learning experience -- when you get down to the final four teams in the tournament, you can't afford to let up.

Farewell to two outstanding Vikings seniors, Sinead Molloy and Zakiya Newsome, who've brought so much to this program over the past four years and have been such a credit to their team and to North Park University as a whole. Thanks for all you've done, Sinead and Zakiya; it's been a pleasure to call your games for four years. Best of luck to you in your futures.

[RogK]

The quality of play regressed in the 2nd half of the 90-68 Millikin win over Carroll.
I assume some defense adjustments were implemented by both sides after a rather amazing 105 point 1st half.
Carroll appears in position to linger in the upper half of the league in the next few years. On the other hand, they do seem to misplace a few good players every year, so we'll see. For a few minutes, they had both 6'1" Elizabeth Behrndt and 6'4" Allison Thompson in the game. They were effectively passing the ball above the defenders' reach. We may expect more of that next season.
Incidentally, Carthage has another game coming up, March 10 at Lake Forest. The Foresters have played just 5 games.

[Gregory Sager]

Incidentally, Carthage has another game coming up, March 10 at Lake Forest. The Foresters have played just 5 games.

Yep. Tim Bernero told me on Thursday night at Charcoal Delights that he added the game so that his seniors could go out on a high note and his freshmen could get a little more experience and more of a positive taste in their mouths coming into 2021-22. So why not call up the coach at his alma mater in order for Tim's Firebirds to take them to the woodshed?

It's all good. It's not as though Lake Forest is going to kick Tim out of their Athletic Hall of Fame because of it.

I think Carthage will win by 25 or so.