WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

Elmhurst committed 31 turnovers, while Millikin shot .556 on 3FGs, .579 on 2FGs and .579 at the foul line.
I attended the Carthage / North Park contest. Adding to Greg's summary, I thought Carthage allotted more respect (defensive attention) to NP's Lauren Lee and Emily Czuhajewski than has any prior opponent.
NP's Josie Summerville is playing through obvious knee pain, hopefully not causing longer-term damage; it's not worth it.
Incidentally, Lauren McKnight guarded Lauren Knight briefly in the first half and I think Knight guarded McKnight for a possession or two in the 2nd half.

[RogK]

The latest D3Hoops top 25 has Wheaton at #16 and no other CCIW team receiving votes.
A majority of the league's teams are still possibilities for receiving votes.
Any of that group could plausibly win the conference tournament if Beijingpeaking at that time.

[iwu70]

RogK, seems Carthage is stronger than many of us thought they might be.  Seems to me that NPU and MU could easily peak at the right time and win the CCIW tournament, get the automatic bid . . .  Wheaton only team ranked nationally, still likely the favorite, don't you think?

As I've said here, I don't think IWU has the sufficient scoring power to compete with that top tier this year, likely finishing in the middle of the pack.  Much will depend on better, more consistent play by the seniors -- Lansford, Eck and Bowen . . .and then how fast the three freshmen develop and contribute -- Huber, Powers and Palmer.  So far, that's been a very positive trajectory and will likely continue upward all season.  They are talented and very hard workers.  Huber is an exceptional talent.  If IWU can find some better rebounding, keep up the strong defensive pressure, and shoot a better percentage, esp. from three, they will be dangerous.  I'll be very interested to see how competitive they are with Wheaton on Saturday.  Another test, hopefully another marker of their development and improvement.

IWU'70

[RogK]

"RogK ... don't you think?"
Not if I can avoid it.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 86
Elmhurst 76

Jayla Johnson: 25 pts (9-16 FG, 7-7 FT), 8 rebs
Emily Czuhajewski: 19 pts (8-13 FG), 3 stls
Chantel Hairston: 10 pts, 3:1 a:to, 4 stls
Lauren Lee: 10 pts

Taylor Harazin: 18 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls
Marissa Mussatto: 13 pts
Katelyn Matthews: 10 pts
Marissa Urso: 4 stls

Don't be fooled by the final score. The Vikings had the lead in the low twenties for the better part of the second half, and it was 84-61 in the waning minutes when the two coaches started pulling their starters -- and the end of the Elmhurst bench promptly went on a 15-2 run to close it out.

Elmhurst is getting better. Tethnie Carillo still needs another piece or two, but her young team is starting to figure things out. By February, if they don't mentally pack it in from all of the losing, they could be dangerous, especially at home.

Not a sterling effort today by the Vikings, but an efficient one. Now they can focus on their finals without that disaster against Carthage hanging over their heads.

[GoPerry]

Millikin traveled to Waukesha and took care of Carroll 72-56.  Elyce Knudsen led all scores with 23 pts.  The Pios Elizabeth Behrndt had 13 pts , 14 rebs in the losing efforts while Brooke Foster had 14 pts.  This was a very close game until a couple defensive lapses by Carroll gave the Big Blue some wide open trey looks which they converted.  Fourth quarter was all MU.

[RogK]

Wheaton broadcasters just noted Annie Tate has a "boot" on her right foot and isn't playing vs IWU this evening.
They didn't know further detail about the injury.

[Gregory Sager]

Holy cow! That is a massive loss for Wheaton.

[RogK]

Carthage tops Augie 62-49 :
all three Firebirds who scored in double figures were very efficient with their shooting -
Lauren Herrmann 17 via 3/6 3FG, 2/3 2FG, 4/4 FT
Lauren Knight 16 via 2/4 3FG, 4/5 2FG, 2/2 FT
Destiny Antoine 11 via 2/3 3FG, 1/2 2FG, 3/3 FT
Bridget Barrett had 8 rebs and 4 assists.
Augie's Hannah Simmer scored 14 and grabbed 5 rebs.
Gabriela Loiz came into the game having scored 12 or more in 7 of 8 games but was limited to 9.

[RogK]

including today's results :
       conf W-L    overall
MIL    3-0          7-3
IWU   2-0          4-4
NCC   1-0          4-5
CTG   3-1          6-3
NPU   1-1          7-2
WHE  2-2          9-2
AUG  0-2          5-4
CRL   0-3          5-3
ELM   0-3         1-9
-

[Ultimate Titan Fan]

Drinking game: each time the Wheaton announcers drop a "t" ("Ti'ans" or "Whea'on") you have to drink. You'll be passed out before the half.

[Gregory Sager]

Drinking game: each time the Wheaton announcers drop a "t" ("Ti'ans" or "Whea'on") you have to drink. You'll be passed out before the half.

You don't often hear a glottal stop from Wheatonites. They usually insist that you stick the landing on the 't' in the middle of their school's name.

[GoPerry]

IWU 81 Wheaton 62

I was only able to see the 1st Q of this one.  While I'm not too surprised at the loss I am at the huge margin and that the Titans so thoroughly dominated.  I'm not really sure Tate being out explained all that.  Certainly they would miss her offense since this Thunder team already has difficulty scoring.  But this team won't win A. giving up 80 pts (few teams will) and B. continuing to turn the ball over (21x tonight).

Looking at the box score neither team shots lights out.  Wheaton lost the board battle -6, 40-34.  The biggest eye opener was the foul shot disparity; IWU went to the line for 28 free throws while Wheaton only shot 8.  (25 fouls committed by WC , 15 for IWU)  That is a huge ft margin to makeup.  I'm guessing that the smaller, faster, quicker lineup of the Titans made it tough on Wheaton defensively.  But that's no excuse really – the coach needs to find a way to match up.

Congrats to the Titans.  They were ready, the Thunder plainly weren't.

I'm hoping Tate's injury is not too serious that she will miss too many games.

[iwu70]

Very much enjoyed my visit to King Arena tonight for the first game.  Yes, IWU over WC 81-62.

To coin a phrase, thank you Lou Holtz.

The story on this one is that IWU got WC to play the game at their style and pace, with tons of defensive pressure and offense off of the "run and jump."  Surprisingly, a top 25 team did not handle the IWU pressure terribly well.  Yes, Annie Tate not in the line-up surely a factor, but the Titans really came ready to play.  They are figuring it out very fast, with the freshmen coming up quickly.  Tonight, it was the experienced hands, the seniors:  Bowen, Eck and Lansford.  A really outstanding performance by the Titans.  As indicated, IWU winning rebounding 40-34, steals 14-5 and PFs 15-25.  IWU made 23-28 from the charity stripe.  WC had 21 TOs. 

For WC:

Swider 23
Cassel 17

For IWU:

Bowen with a breakout game:  19 and 6, 2 blocks and 2 steals
Huber 17 and 9
Lansford, again finding her trey, 15
Heller 13, 3 steals
Eck 9 and 3 steals

Congrats to Coach Smith and the Titans on this big win.  Keep it rolling . . . very promising, developing very fast.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Congratulations to IWU's Kaia Bowen on CCIW Player of the Week honors.  She had a breakout game against #18 Wheaton in the Titans' big take-down of the Thunder at Wheaton this past Saturday.  19 and 6, with two blocks and two steals.  She's a big big part of the success of "run and jump," just unrelenting on defense. 

Keep in rolling, keep improving each game, Titans -- on Wednesday night at home vs. NCC.  Keep the pressure on and play even faster . . . 

IWU'70