WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Or maybe he can't. Maybe Mark's mourning the announced departure of pre-eminent IWU poster Titan Q from d3boards.com. Perhaps the same holds true for Chuck. I half expect to see black armbands in the stands the next time that I watch a livestream from Shirk.

Jokes aside, it is highly unusual that Mark's gone two entire days without posting. And it can't be because he has nothing new to say about the Titans, because that's never stopped him before.

[RogK]

IWU at Millikin is now set for Monday, as is Augie at Elmhurst.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 74
North Central 59

Esther Miller: 25 pts (9-15 FG), 3 stls
Jayla Johnson: 14 pts, 11 rebs, 4 stls
Chantel Hairston: 11 pts, 14 rebs, 3 stls, 6:4 a:to
Josie Summerville: 10 pts
Lauren Lee: 6 rebs

Elle Sutter: 29 pts, 10 rebs, 4 stls
IxChel Leeuwenburgh: 11 pts, 10 rebs

This was pretty much a reprise of the NPU game at Wheaton in December, in which the Vikings built up a huge lead and then watched it dwindle late as they got worn down and kept putting their opponent at the line because they were too tired to move their feet on defense. North Park led by as much as 28 midway through the third quarter, but the Vikes were gassed by the time the fourth quarter started; it only took NCC 73 seconds to get fouled five times and get into the bonus. The Cards ended up getting the lead down to as little as nine points with a minute and change left, but they simply didn't have the wherewithal to actually endanger the NPU lead.

Tremendous game by the NPU defense for three quarters, as the Vikes came away with 14 steals and held NCC to less than one make out of every three shots until the late Cardinals run. Chantel Hairston had a career high in rebounds, and Esther Miller matched the 25-point outing she had in Naperville a few weeks ago. For NCC, Elle Sutter was absolutely phenomenal. She was only averaging 8.9 and 5.4 coming into tonight; dunno why she had such a breakout performance this evening, but I was very impressed.

The Vikings have all of the league's best teams back-loaded on their schedule, so they're going to have a struggle to the finish line. But, for tonight at least, they can bask in a job well done.

[lmitzel]

North Park 74
North Central 59

Esther Miller: 25 pts (9-15 FG), 3 stls
Jayla Johnson: 14 pts, 11 rebs, 4 stls
Chantel Hairston: 11 pts, 14 rebs, 3 stls, 6:4 a:to
Josie Summerville: 10 pts
Lauren Lee: 6 rebs

Elle Sutter: 29 pts, 10 rebs, 4 stls
IxChel Leeuwenburgh: 11 pts, 10 rebs

This was pretty much a reprise of the NPU game at Wheaton in December, in which the Vikings built up a huge lead and then watched it dwindle late as they got worn down and kept putting their opponent at the line because they were too tired to move their feet on defense. North Park led by as much as 28 midway through the third quarter, but the Vikes were gassed by the time the fourth quarter started; it only took NCC 73 seconds to get fouled five times and get into the bonus. The Cards ended up getting the lead down to as little as nine points with a minute and change left, but they simply didn't have the wherewithal to actually endanger the NPU lead.

Tremendous game by the NPU defense for three quarters, as the Vikes came away with 14 steals and held NCC to less than one make out of every three shots until the late Cardinals run. Chantel Hairston had a career high in rebounds, and Esther Miller matched the 25-point outing she had in Naperville a few weeks ago. For NCC, Elle Sutter was absolutely phenomenal. She was only averaging 8.9 and 5.4 coming into tonight; dunno why she had such a breakout performance this evening, but I was very impressed.

The Vikings have all of the league's best teams back-loaded on their schedule, so they're going to have a struggle to the finish line. But, for tonight at least, they can bask in a job well done.

I watched a chunk of the opening quarter and had to stop since I was trying to get kids ready for bed (hence why, despite having the golden opportunity to get to the crackerbox for the first time, I didn't end up making it). Peeked back in periodically, saw the big deficit. Glad the Cardinals were able to fight back and make it at least something of a game.

Elle has been trending upward for a good chunk of the season. She got a little run in the shortened campaign as a freshman, but this year has had some pretty good games, so I'm thrilled to see that this may be her breakout party.

[RogK]

lmitzel, you wouldn't have liked your Cardinals' 16 point first half. They were tentative, sloppy, clearly not ready for North Park's energy from the opening tip.
At some point in the 3rd quarter, it seemed NC woke up, contested for rebounds. Both teams got feisty (chippy, to use a hockey term), including some significant collisions. From then on, the refs wisely called the many fouls they saw. If they had "let 'em play," injuries on either team were not out of the question.
You definitely would have liked Sutter's dazzling show of talent. Looking ahead, Coach McCloskey-Bax needs to bring in more scorers for the team next season. Otherwise, Sutter will be double-teamed a lot.
As Greg noted, Chantel Hairston has really improved her rebounding, bravely going in among bigger players to grab the ball, especially offensive boards in the lane. They'll certainly need that next season.

[GoPerry]

The #1 ranked Captains of Christopher Newport Univ visit King Arena on Saturday for a 2pm tipoff.

In my observation, CNU is a fast, speedy and skilled team which enables their up tempo style on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.  Sondra Fan and Anaya Simmons are their leading scorers but they have multiple players capable of scoring on their own.  Defensively they play a full court trapping press which doesn't really stop once you get over the timeline.  They do a great job denying the passing lanes and get through picks without switching.

Wheaton will need to try and play at their own pace and not allow CNU to dictate.  The Captains are averaging 88 pts/game but I think Wheaton is capable of defending them in the halfcourt if they can match their intensity.  On offense, the Thunder have experience with breaking the press (IWU).  But CNU's press is noticeably more active and risk-taking for steals.  Breaking it could lead to some easy baskets but they'll have to take care of the ball first and minimize turnovers.  They will also probably get plenty of open looks from CNUs defense that they'll need to knock down.

No doubt this will be a challenge.  Reminiscent of when the top ranked Thomas More team came to King in 2018 with Madison Temple.

The HAL 2000 likes CNU by 11.

[RogK]

GoPerry, your post got me wondering about CNU's 88.5 scoring average and whether it is distorted by games when they've demolished teams by 60 or 70.
Their offense has scored : 63 68 69 70 72 77 82 88 89 93 94 95 101 104 109 113 118.
So their median score so far is 89, practically identical to their 88.5 average.
However, they've scored in the 60s and 70s as often as in the 80s.
Based on the above data, we can predict that Wheaton will beat them 81-77. Or, CNU will win 88-64.

[GoPerry]

GoPerry, your post got me wondering about CNU's 88.5 scoring average and whether it is distorted by games when they've demolished teams by 60 or 70.
Their offense has scored : 63 68 69 70 72 77 82 88 89 93 94 95 101 104 109 113 118.
So their median score so far is 89, practically identical to their 88.5 average.
However, they've scored in the 60s and 70s as often as in the 80s.
Based on the above data, we can predict that Wheaton will beat them 81-77. Or, CNU will win 88-64.

RogK -  If the Caps score over 70, I'm not optimistic on the Thunder's prospects.  Wheaton won't win a track meet.

[Gregory Sager]

Here's NPU's three-point shooting numbers before and after Emily Czuhajewski was injured early in the fourth quarter of the NPU @ NCC contest:

Before:	95-306 (.310)
After:	3-32 (.093)

On the one hand, it highlights the fact that North Park's overall performance since the injury (a 3-1 record, plus closing out the win in the game in which Emily was hurt) has been pretty impressive. It's hard to overcome the loss of a player of her caliber, but the Vikings have managed to do so with solid success thus far. On the other hand, their remaining schedule (vs. AC, @ IWU, @ MU, vs. WC, and @ CU) is very difficult, and the Vikings will certainly be hamstrung in those five games by the virtual absence of the three-point shot from their collective arsenal.

[iwu70]

I'm touched, guys!  To know that you somehow missed me . . . can it be true??

The truth is my laptop crashed and I've been offline for a few days . . . hence the silence.  Games postponed anyway.  I got the dreaded blue screen with nothingness . . . so won't know about a repair job or a needed new computer until early next week.  I'm at Ames Library at IWU now, gaining some access for a few hours.

RogK, yes, my car was plowed in, though I attempted no trip to Decatur . . . the game put off until Monday evening.  So, I will make an attempt, a run at Decatur and The Griz then.  IWU has to contend with Carthage at Shirk first, in about 30 minutes.  IWU hosting both men and women's games tonight -- 5 and 7 p.m.   

The game @MU still a big one . . . so stay tuned.   Can't promise I'll be back online fully until mid-week. 

Yes, I'm sure I'll have something to say about the games . . . in time.

Be well, be safe all . . .  it's ugly out there still, with piles and piles of snow all about.  We got 13 inches here in Bloomington/Normal.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

CNU  69
Wheaton 53


The Thunder ladies gave it good effort against a more seasoned, more talented, and more veteran Christopher Newport team.  


Wheaton's 33 turnovers and giving up 20 offensive rebounds added up to the Captains taking 21 more shot attempts.  Not the type of math that leads to winning.  As expected, Wheaton was able to defend them decently in the halfcourt.   But CNUs whopping 33 pts off Thunder turnovers was just too much.


It's hard to say if the Captains are the best team in the country.  Having seen both Hope and Trine play, I would still give the Flying Dutch the edge.  

[Roundball999]

CNU  69
Wheaton 53


The Thunder ladies gave it good effort against a more seasoned, more talented, and more veteran Christopher Newport team. 


Wheaton's 33 turnovers and giving up 20 offensive rebounds added up to the Captains taking 21 more shot attempts.  Not the type of math that leads to winning.  As expected, Wheaton was able to defend them decently in the halfcourt.   But CNUs whopping 33 pts off Thunder turnovers was just too much.


It's hard to say if the Captains are the best team in the country.  Having seen both Hope and Trine play, I would still give the Flying Dutch the edge. 

A solid effort by the Thunder except the turnovers, but CNU does that to a lot of teams.  Massey had this one 71-61 for CNU; a pretty decent prediction.  FWIW, Massey has Hope over CNU 79-68 on a neutral court.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 55
North Park 46

Jayla Johnson: 20 pts, 5 stls
Esther Miller: 14 pts, 4 stls
Chantel Hairston: 6 rebs, 4 stls
Josie Summerville: 6 rebs
Lauren Lee: 4 stls

Gabby Loiz: 14 pts, 7 rebs
Hannah Simmer: 13 pts, 6 rebs
Lauren Hall: 10 rebs, 3 stls
Emily Brenneisen: 3 stls

NPU attempted a whopping 20 more field goal attempts than did Augie -- despite the fact that Augie outrebounded NPU 47-30 -- because the hosts actually had more offensive boards, combined with 31 turnovers for Augie that included 19 steals. Unfortunately, North Park was unable to take advantage of all this largesse, shooting a miserable .277 from the field for the game. Credit to Augie for that, as Mark Beinborn had his defense collapse every time that NPU got the ball inside the arc, conceding every shot from 15 feet out that the Vikings wanted to take ... and they made very few of them. NPU just doesn't have the personnel to keep opposing defenses honest anymore without the services of Emily Czuhajewski, so, despite a yeoman effort from the Park, the hosts simply weren't able to keep pace with an Augie team that was effective enough at the other end of the floor to hold NPU at bay.

[shepherd]

CNU  69
Wheaton 53


The Thunder ladies gave it good effort against a more seasoned, more talented, and more veteran Christopher Newport team. 


Wheaton's 33 turnovers and giving up 20 offensive rebounds added up to the Captains taking 21 more shot attempts.  Not the type of math that leads to winning.  As expected, Wheaton was able to defend them decently in the halfcourt.   But CNUs whopping 33 pts off Thunder turnovers was just too much.


It's hard to say if the Captains are the best team in the country.  Having seen both Hope and Trine play, I would still give the Flying Dutch the edge. 

Agree.  For some teams that could be on the bubble this might not be a good scheduled game but for Wheaton its the perfect scheduled game at the right time.  This tough game should help prepare them should that make the cciw tournament.

[lmitzel]

NCC snapped its skid with a 72-59 win at Elmhurst this afternoon.

Elle Sutter: 17 pts, 5 reb
Mitrese Smith: 12 pts, 6 reb
Allison Pearson: 10 pts, 12 reb

Taylor Harazin: 19 pts, 10 reb
Ella Riley: 11 pts
Kate Matthew's: 10 pts, 11 reb