WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

I attended the Augie at North Park game.
In the final minutes of the contest, AUG's Macy Beinborn and NPU's Esther Miller each whacked the other at least twice.
The officiating crew decided it was too late in the game for the rules to apply and did not assess the technicals that would have been charged if the confrontation occurred early in the game.
The rules apply for the full 40 minutes.

[RogK]

IWU 58 Carthage 52 :
Excellent game for Brooke Lansford, hitting 6 of 9 3FGs, 6 of 9 2FGs and 2/4 FTs for 32 pts.
Lauren Huber helped with 9 pts and 7 rebs; three teammates had 6 or 7 rebs too.
Katelyn Heller had 3 assists and 4 steals.
Addison Ebeling led the visitors with 18 pts and had 5 rebs.
Kelsey Coshun had 10 pts in 15:00, while Lauren Knight had 4 assists, 5 rebs, 9 pts.
iwu70 may provide firsthand info for us in a few days.

[RogK]

Millikin 73-59 over Carroll :
A sharp performance for MIL's Jordan Hildebrand : 8 steals, a block, 5 rebs and 17 pts.
Elyce Knudsen had 16 pts, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Aubrey Staton scored 11 pts via only 5 shots; that's a good ratio!
Elizabeth Behrndt led the Pios with 14 pts, making 5 of her 7 2FG att and all 4 FTs.

[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. 

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.

Correct.  Wheaton is not a Pool C candidate so their overall record doesn't mean much.  So playing a top team like today has lots of positives for them going into these last four games.  Wheaton (6-6 in conference) is just looking to make the CCIW tournament which is not at all a given.  Remaining games are @ Augie, @ IWU, @ Park, vs Millikin.  I think they'll have to win 2 out of those 4 to make it in which means Wednesday's game in Rock Island is a must win for the fifth place Thunder (tonight's win at NPU was big for the Augie, now 5-7 in sixth).  Carthage (5-8) is just outside in seventh but they hold the tie breaker over Wheaton with the season sweep.

As frustrating as they are to watch at times, I have to remind myself that they are still a very young team.  Hannah Swider is the only senior playing minutes.  They are starting a freshman in Richardson.   And even the sophomores like Schwen, Mooney and Sikkink only played 12 games last year and still make freshman-like mistakes such as lazy, ill-advised passes and defensive lapses.

[lmitzel]

Did this over on the men's side too, here's the women's standings.

x-	Illinois Wesleyan	10-1
x-	Millikin	10-1
	North Park	7-5
	Carroll	6-6
	Wheaton	6-6
	Augustana	5-7
	North Central	5-8
	Carthage	5-8
e-	Elmhurst	0-12

Wesleyan and Millikin have both clinched conference tournament berths; winner of their game on Monday guarantees themselves a top three finish.

[iwu70]

Yes, still slow on the uptake, due to computer problems.  I need Ames Library open hours and access to get online these few days. 

As reported by RogK, IWU over CC 68-60, in a game that should not have been this close.  IWU led by 18 at one point, though CC never gave up and came all the way back to tie.  IWU wiggled free in the last two minutes, taking the win on their home court.  A close call.  The Carthage team playing hard in the second half after being way down.  I give them a lot of credit.  IWU had many more turnovers and a bad shooting night for about everyone, save Professor Brooke Lansford.  She gave a tutorial on getting open, shooting floaters in the lane, going wherever she wanted to go, hitting 6-9 treys (the only woman in Pink to hit a three!), and putting up a career night, basically saving the Titans in this one. 

For CC:
Ebeling 18
Coshun 10
Knight 9

For IWU:

Lansford 32, 6-9 treys, a couple of steals, rebounds, and NO TOs.  Quite a performance . . .  she even had that look of amazement herself when hitting a long trey, well past the line, as the shot clock expired!   Fun to watch.  The basket must have looked like an ocean to her last night.
Huber 9 and 7

Generally, the other Titans struggled last night, especially the other freshmen, Powers and Palmer.  They looked more like freshmen, not as they have been playing earlier, in recent games.

Time to tighten up and get ready for the BIG BIG game @Millikin -- two 10-1 teams, basically for the lead and the inside track to the regular season conference championship.  I'm pretty sure Mia Smith will have the Titans ready for a great performance at The Griz tomorrow night.

Glad the roads are plowed, cleared and ready for an easy shot down 51 to Decatur for tomorrow night's big game.  Again, the Titans must defend the heck out of MU, stay even on the rebounding line, and do some dirt with "run and jump"   If they can do that and have a relatively positive shooting percentage, they can again defeat the Big Blue, even on their home floor.  It should be a good one, perhaps closer than last time.

Here we go down the home stretch, only 4-5 games left for teams in the regular season.  Who is more fit, who has fewer injuries and covid absences, and who wants it more . . .

It's been a great season . . . and my Titans have surely over-achieved, done far better than I expected when assessing them 5-6 games into the season.  Lou Holz is with me . . . 

IWU'70

[RogK]

I don't like early-season assessments anyway; when they are wrong, they are meaningless. And if they are right, they are confirmed gradually. What actually transpires in the season is what counts, not the expectations going in.
Thanks to lmitzel for the up-to-date standings; adding the wins or losses shows 54 conference games complete, exactly 3/4th of the 72. However, only 5 of 9 teams have played 12 of their 16 games.
I add this fascinating data so the odd reader can sit down and think about it for 7 to 8 seconds.

[RogK]

Congrats to Brooke Lansford for the new CCIW Player of the Week honor, her 2nd in less than a month!

[iwu70]

My congrats to Brooke Lansford as well, for the weekly Player of the Week honors in the CCIW.  She had a career night vs. the Firebirds. 

I'm hoping she can light up the Big Blue tonight in Decatur.   It will be all hands on deck, all Titans to play their best game tonight, to chase Knudsen to the ends of the earth in Griswold. 

Here comes the stretch run . . . 

IWU'70

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

We had another midday edition of Hoopsville on Monday. Great show with plenty of DIII chat, but also insightful conversations with each of our guests.



The basketball season is now fully into February and with conference tournaments looming, teams continue to ready themselves for the stretch run.

On Monday's Hoopsville, we chatted with several teams who are leading their conference races and making national headlines in the meantime. Plus, we look ahead at what will be ever-changing Top 25 polls. There is always plenty of upsets, close games, amazing feats, and surprising results to talk about in Division III.

Reminder, Monday shows' guests primarily come from Regions 1 & 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Guests included:
- Brian Baptiste, UMass-Dartmouth men's coach
- John Krikorian, No. 4 Christopher Newport men's coach
- Dixie Jeffers, former Capital women's coach & interim AD
- Mandy King, Kean women's coach
- Olivia Lett, Millikin women's coach

Watch the show here: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2021-22/feb7

Listen to the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/hoopsville/1920-stretch-run?si=77077a5aa28a4c8c9f0bfa60e5c3b3c2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

[RogK]

The refs in Decatur should tell the front row (courtside) of fans to sit.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin rules the roost, leading wire-to-wire in a 67-56 victory over Illinois Wesleyan at the Griz. The Titans did make it interesting, cutting a 23-point MU lead late in the third quarter down to nine in the game's final minute, but they got no closer. Big night for Elyce Knudsen, who had 24 and a 5:2 ratio, while Aubrey Staton had a dozen points and four blocks. Jordan Hildebrand had 10 and 7 as well, and diminutive Miranda Fox pulled down 12 boards. Brooke Lansford led the Titans with 16, Katelyn Heller contributed 15 and 7, Lauren Huber scored a baker's dozen, and Mallory Powers added 8 rebounds.

[RogK]

Elmhurst wrapped up its home schedule with a 55-44 win over Augie.
Ella Riley topped all with 18 pts, hitting 6 of 11 threes. She also had 3 steals.
Speaking of 18, that's how many rebounds Taylor Harazin grabbed, to go along with 8 pts.
Kate Matthews scored 17 and added 5 rebs. Marissa Urso did her usual variety of good contributions.
Augie got 12 pts 4 rebs from Macy Beinborn.
Gabriela Loiz tallied 11 pts, 10 rebs, 6 assists.
Lauren Hall had 8 pts 7 rebs.
Beinborn made 3/6 threes and Daina Riser made both of hers, but the other Vikings combined for 1/20 threes.

[Gregory Sager]

That's a big surprise, especially considering that Augie is in the midst of a battle to secure a playoff spot and has been playing very good ball lately.

Good for Tethnie & Co. I've been rooting for them to get off the schneid (since they finished up their season series with NPU, of course ).

[RogK]

this just in :
11-1 MIL
10-2 IWU
7-5 NPU
6-6 CRL WHE
5-8 AUG CTG NCC
1-12 ELM