WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU at MU tonight for the CCIW Tournament championship.  Should be a good one.  Two good teams, two good coaches who know each other extremely well.   Kendall Sosa's favorite gym of the year . . .   

Congrats to Kendall on being named to the D3hoops Team of the Week for the third times this season.  Amazing.

Go TITANS!  Everyone play your best game tonight . . . the seniors going out strong.

IWU'70

[RogK]

And congrats to Jordan Hildebrand, new CCIW Player of the Week!

[iwu70]

IWU over MU at the half, 29-26.

'70

[RogK]

Alright iwu70, what's urinalysis of the 1st half action?

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin 72
Illinois Wesleyan 59

It was The Elyce Knudsen Show tonight, as she scored 31 and was absolutely dominant down the stretch as the Big Blue pulled away. But Natalie Snyder was the unsung hero. She played outstanding defense on Kendall Sosa, who scored 20 but shot only 8-22 to end her phenomenal career on a down note.

Congrats to Millikin upon winning the CCIW tournament. It feels strange to say that Millikin is the team with the hardware, since the team that was at the top of the league didn't even play in the tournament ... but, judging by the enthusiasm of the Big Blue at game's end, I don't think they intend to let anyone put that trophy in a closet somewhere just because Wheaton didn't have a chance to compete for it.

[iwu70]

Congrats to the Big Blue on the CCIW Tournament Championship. 

A hard-fought game, with IWU just having a let-down, a slow period in the last three minutes or so.  Pretty close up to that point.  Yes, good defense on Sosa tonight and also an outstanding game by Ms. Knudsen, a new star in the league.  The final was 72-59, though it was much closer than that all game, save for the last few minutes. 

All the IWU Seniors played well:

IWU:
Sosa 20
Brovelli 6 and 12
Lowis 10 and 5
Monroe 13

MU:
Knudsen 31
Hildenbrand 15
Fox 7 and 10

Kendall Sosa has had a remarkable career.  Just amazing.

Congrats to Coach Lett and her team on a great win.

My warmest good wishes to the aforementioned seniors above.  We so enjoyed watching you'all these years and appreciate your many achievements and accomplishments for the IWU program and the University.  All best and good wishes for future endeavors after IWU.  It will be very hard to replace you, a great and productive senior group, as you have been such a key part of this program for the last 2-3 years.  Good luck.

Really sorry for the seniors -- from MU, maybe WC and IWU too, for not having a chance to play in the D3 tournament this year.

So it goes in the era of Covid.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

A.   Incredible freshman performance by Knudsen.  She looked totally comfortable in the moment when, in my opinion, the rest of
        the Big Blue besides Hildebrand looked shaky to me on the offensive side.  As I posted in the season's first week, an absolute
        baller of a player.
B.   Outstanding performance by Hildebrand in her last game.  She made some really big plays down the stretch and some key
        putbacks.
C.   MU defense keyed on Sosa and it worked because none of the others on Wesleyan were able to step up significantly.  Sosa
        never looked comfortable, rarely got a clean look and at times played a little desperate knowing it was mostly on her
        shoulders.  I'm sorry we didn't get to see Sosa over a whole uninterrupted season in her senior year.  She deserved some
        national recognition and probably would've received strong first team AA and maybe even POY consideration.

Congratulations to Coach Lett and Millikin on really bringing it all tonight and winning the tournament.  Well deserved to be sure.

[RogK]

Yes, hats off to the Big Blue!
That 46 pt 2nd half was impressive.
Heavy minutes for IWU's starting 5, perhaps a reason why they did minimal fullcourt defense during most of the contest.
A lot of players on both teams helped significantly, in a variety of ways, but as Greg wrote, Elyce Knudsen was the difference.
Congrats to each team and, frankly, all 9 teams in the league for doing their best in a stressful circumstance.
Carthage will play the conference's only non-conference game tomorrow; I guess that'll wrap things up, barring any last minute additional games.

[iwu70]

Yes, a strange season, all told.

GoPerry, agree with you on Sosa.  Sure do wish she'd had a full senior season and schedule to showcase her amazing talents.  I hope she still receives some AA honors . . . esp. given her points per game, FT % and steals.  Feel bad for all the seniors -- of Wheaton, Millikin and perhaps IWU, that they couldn't play in the D3 dance. 

IWU now I think in a rebuilding mode.  Hard to see what comes next after this great senior group departs.  I think the issues this year just were that there was not enough surrounding cast for Sosa.  Shanks was a great loss, providing that second strong scoring option and the leadership.  Brovelli had another pretty good year, but many of the others just did not improve from last year to this all that much.  Some inconsistencies there . . . even though some had great games here and there.  Next year, hard to see what emerges, and no real scorers returning . . .  maybe Lansford emerges, but the others have played different roles.  The big 6'3" freshman surely the heir apparent to Brovelli, though she's still a work in progress, me thinks.  Others will really have to step up and play bigger roles, esp. on offense.  Maybe Eck, perhaps Heller, more from Bowen?  . . . but I don't see this as being a very strong year upcoming.  But, you never know, right ?  -- look at the marvelous Millikin freshman, Knudsen! . . . so we can hope for a strong recruiting class and the emergence of some new talent and improvements, greater roles for the pine-sitters for the Titans.

Wheaton, Millikin and NPU will again be strong . . .   

Again, my congratulations to Millikin on a big win last night.  Surely the better team on the night, esp. in the last 2-3 minutes.  And, my congratulations to the IWU seniors -- what a great run they all had.  I wish them all the best in future endeavors after graduation. 

Looking forward to the men's championship game on Friday -- IWU @ Wheaton.  Two great teams, surely two top-ten teams.  The Titans will need to bring their A-game in that one.   

Another season pretty much in the books.  It's on to softball, baseball . . . and all the rest.  And, to the golf course.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park should contend again next season, and the foremost reason why is pretty obvious. How many teams in D3 women's basketball have a thousand-point scorer returning? And Jayla Johnson is not simply a scorer -- she's also one of the top rebounders in the CCIW, and by the end of this truncated season she was proving that she'd developed the ability to effectively pass out of double teams for easy baskets, particularly to weak-side cutters (since the NPU outside shooting game was not effective, an ongoing problem that again needs to be addressed in the off-season). And, while Sinead Molloy and Zakiya Newsome are veteran role players whose experience and expertise will be missed, the Vikings nevertheless have an upcoming talent in the backcourt in Chantal Hairston whose shortened freshman season proved that she has a high ceiling and is capable of great things in the future. She's no Elyce Knudsen, but, then again, besides Elyce Knudsen herself, who is? I'd still rather have Hairston than any other non-Knudsen freshman guard in the league -- and that includes such other promising backcourt plebes as Katie Rohner of Carroll and Lauren Knight of Carthage.

The Vikings have a couple of other effective pieces complementing Johnson and Hairston in Emily Czuhajewski and Josie Summerville, and an assortment of role players who could develop their games in the off-season and become more accomplished. But there's still room for depth and for more effective backcourt help at both ends of the floor, so I'm hoping for a productive recruiting season for Amanda and Annie. Nevertheless, looking at what the rest of the league has coming back, North Park is still in comparatively fine shape for 2021-22 at this point.

[RogK]

It was Greg who wrote on this very website days ago that Carthage would defeat Lake Forest "by 25 or so."
77-51 was your final tonight. 41-16 at the half.
Each Carthage player helped in one way or another. They could have really clobbered the hosts, but they called off a very successful fullcourt press early on.
-
I assume we should get an All-CCIW honors announcement this week.

[Gregory Sager]

It was Greg who wrote on this very website days ago that Carthage would defeat Lake Forest "by 25 or so."
77-51 was your final tonight

[RogK]

the all-CCIW honors are up :
2021 Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Player -- Kendall Sosa - Illinois Wesleyan
2021 CCIW Newcomer of the Year -- Elyce Knudsen - Millikin

FIRST TEAM
Name    School    Pos.    Yr.     Hometown/H.S.
Kate Christian    Carroll    G    So.      New London, Wis./H.S.
Kendall Sosa*    Illinois Wesleyan    G    Sr.    Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community
Bailey Coffman    Millikin    F    So.    Heyworth, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic
Jordan Hildebrand*    Millikin    F/C    Sr.    Mendon, Ill./Unity
Elyce Knudsen*    Millikin     G    Fr.    Phillo, Ill./Tolono Unity
Jayla Johnson*    North Park    F    Jr.    Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South
Hannah Williams*    Wheaton    G    Sr.    Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian
Annie Tate*    Wheaton    G    So.    Elburn, Ill./St. Charles North

SECOND TEAM
Name    School    Pos.     Yr.    Hometown/H.S.
Elizabeth Behrndt    Carroll    F    So.    Sussex, Wis./Hamilton
Courtney O'Donnell    Elmhurst    F    Sr.    New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West
Kelly Weyrich    Elmhurst    G    Sr.    Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey
Riley Brovelli    Illinois Wesleyan    F    Sr.    Oglesby, Ill./LaSalle-Peru
Samantha Munroe    Illinois Wesleyan    G    Sr.    St. Charles, Ill./East
Allison Pearson    North Central    G    Jr.     Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West
Emily Czuhajewski    North Park    G    Jr.    Chicago, Ill./Taft
Hannah Swider    Wheaton    G    Jr.    Wheaton, Ill./North
*Unanimous Selections
--
Deviating from prior seasons, there is no Coach of the Year. Really? No plausible reason for that.
Augustana and Carthage are shut out.
I'll pompously stick with my all-CCIW list.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to Jayla Johnson and Emily Czuhajewski!

This makes two straight years that Jayla has been a unanimous choice for first team.

[iwu70]

Coach of the Year, should be Olivia Lett?

Glad to see Sam Munroe make the All-CCIW team.

Congrats to Riley and Kendall, too -- and esp. to Kendall for a remarkable run, the much-deserved MOP award.

Seems a very reasonable slate . . . all told.  RogK, yes, I liked your list earlier . . .

Good and strange season, farewell to all the seniors who worked so hard, gave so much.

'70