WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mactitan]

I was a the IWU-Elmhurst game.  This was the first women's game I had been to in a few years, and I was very impressed by IWU.  People here were talking about them lacking a killer instinct.  I feel as if they crushed the Blue Jays' spirit in that game.  From their facial expressions and body language, the Blue Jays just looked beaten - and that comes from a killer instinct, pressure defense, and hitting big shots (One poster commented that it might also come from the flu). 

I also noticed a much bigger crowd than what I was used to for women's games.  Now, there wasn't the same kind of support that an undefeated men's team would be getting, but I was glad to see a couple of hundred cheering fans.  I will be much more likely this year to spend my time and money on the women's team, and am looking forward to the NCAA tournament.

On a side note, after the game Christina Solari (who missed the first triple double in school history by 2 rebounds - and didn't play much of the second half) was being interviewed by reporters.  My 2-year-old daughter and I were just hanging around.  Christina noticed my daughter, started talking to us and gave my daughter five.  All she could talk about on the way home was "that basketball player."  Thanks Christina, for making my daughter's night.

[Hoosier Titan]

With respect to the game itself, I do believe that the Bluejays can offer significantly more competition at the next game in Elmhurst as virtually the entire team was competing with either the flu or viral bronchitis.  In spite of the score, I thought the Jays competed as hard as they could on that given night.

Thanks for that insight, OHB.  That explains quite a bit.  I didn't want to single out players who had a bad night, but I know the Bluejays well enough to know that several players were not on their game.  I wish them a speedy recovery. 

[jshoops]

IWU has a great program and it all starts with the coach and that "positive attitude" feeds into the players.  After the UofC game Christina Solari came over to say hi to us and thanked us for coming to watch(we're from Park Ridge).  Coach Smith saw us and took the time to stop and talk to my 7th grade daughter, I came away very impressed with Coach Smith.   

While this team has accomplished alot this season, Coach Smith will keep this team focused on the unfinished business they have in front of them.   Unfortunately my 1/31 calendar is full so now I'm thinking about making the trip down to Olivet on 2/17.  Go Titans!

[Mr. Ypsi]

A bit of a surprise in Naperville - at the half, IWU only up 35-33.

It's been the Christina Solari show - 19 points already.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well I got exactly what I'd asked for - A hard-fought Titan win.  The game was tied at 53-53 with 7:20 remaining, before the Titans went on a 10-0 run over the next 6 minutes.  Final score, 65-55.

[Hoosier Titan]

It wasn't pretty for Illinois Wesleyan in Naperville today.  The Titans held on for a 65-55 win over North Central by tightening the defense down the stretch, holding the Cardinals to only 2 points in the last 9 minutes.  To some extent, the Titans contributed to the closeness of the game by missing, uncharacteristically, quite a few point-blank shots. Neither team shot 40% (36% for the Titans, 32% for the Cardinals). 

It was another fine game from Christina Solari:  a career-high 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals.  Combined with Tuesday night's game against Elmhurst she had 40 points, 19 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.6 for the week.  This would seem to be a pretty good case for Player of the Week!

Hope Schulte and Claire Sheehan were in double figures with 10 each for the Titans, while Gia Navarra led the Cardinals with 15 and Brianne Parra and Meghan McGuire each contributed 11.

[Hoosier Titan]

Here's the Pantagraph story about the IWU-North Central game.  Mia Smith was much tougher on the Titans than I was in my brief report last night.

No. 1 IWU women prevail despite weaker basketball game

[RogK]

HT, that definitely was a fine performance by Christina Solari.
IWU was a little off-balance with their shooting, but they still won.
Important to their late surge were great plays that ruined consecutive NC possessions : first, a block and rebound by Mallory Heydorn and then a block and rebound by Hope Schulte. Those stops had to be disheartening for the Cardinals.
As time dwindled, North Central didn't turn to an effective hurry-up game.
When trailing by 8 or 10 with under 3:00 to go, the math doesn't favor settling back into a half-court defense. Nor was there going to be time to make up at least 10 points two at a time. Oh well, IWU will take the win.
NC's Meghan McGuire was very impressive "on the boards" with her dozen rebounds; teammate Amber Cibrario did nice work dribbling against fairly constant pressure. In hindsight, we can say that Gia Navarra should have shot more.
IWU's players all did well defensively.
A look at the rest of the league follows when I get time. Of course, anyone else is free to do that, too.

[RogK]

Congratulations to C Solari for being CCIW Player of the Week.
Wheaton improved to 6-1 with an 81-67 win over Carthage.
Jamie Jones (11/14, 2/4, 5/7 FT) piled up 29 points and Kathleen Fidelia added 25 (9/16, 4/4, 3/5 FT).
Millikin won at Elmhurst, 59-56. Crystal Zeigler had 13 pts (4/5, 5/6 FT) and 7 rebs in 22:00. Tracie Yantis also scored 13, to go along with 6 assists. 6 rebs and 3 steals. Whitney Schwartz did not post big stats but played the whole 40:00, so she did many things that met the approval of her coach.
Lyndsie Long (11/19, 5/5) tallied 27 for EC.
Augustana topped North Park, 70-57. Kristen Fox had 22 pts, 6 assists, 6 rebs and 4 steals for the Vikings. Natalie Runge had 18 pts, 7 rebs and 3 steals. Dawn Kernich (4/5, 2/2 FT) had 10 pts and 4 rebs in her 12:00. Sarah Rachwalski added 3 steals and 6 assists. For the other Vikings, LaRae Kostreva had 13 pts and 9 rebs.

[RogK]

This is just to those IWU partisans who were anticipating the remaining nonconference game vs Olivet Nazarene.
You might like to know that ONU lost 110-75 in their last game.
Tonight they play St Francis, which gave the Titans a good battle.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Tonite was one of those 'unfortunate' games: IWU 94, NPU 49.  It appears that IWU did what it could to avoid humiliation - 16 players had at least 5 minutes, only one as many as 21.  What struck me was that NPU had only 7 players in the box score - are they really THAT short-handed?  A cryin' shame, if so.  Anyone with info?

[Hoosier Titan]

North Park only has nine players on their roster, and at least one (evidently two) of those did not play tonight.  So yes, they were very short-handed.  The outcome was never in doubt, and as you point out, Ypsi, many Titans got PT.  I'm sure there was no desire for humiliation; there is a need both to keep the starters sharp and fit and to spread out some minutes among the other players.  Mia Smith tried lots of combinations and some of the first subs in were not the usual ones to come in early--Jessica Hinterlong and Carrie Williams, for example. 

WJBC, the local radio station, was broadcasting the game tonight.  Here's their one minute report:  Titan women still undefeated  The full broadcast should be here: IWU women's basketball, although I haven't listened to it yet.  And it was good to see a reporter from the Pantagraph in attendance; coverage for the region's only #1 ranked team has been sparse to date!

It was Claire Sheehan's 22nd birthday, by the way.  Happy birthday, Claire!

[Hoosier Titan]

Olivet Nazarene lost to St. Francis, 100-98.  Interesting!

[Thunder Dutch]

What are Wheaton's chances of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament?

[Old Hoosier Baller]

Anyone who saw the Elmhurst-Wheaton game last night enjoyed quite a show!  Records aside and removing IWU from the conversation, the game was a prime example of how little truly separates the majority of teams in the CCIW this season.  Lyndsie Long put on a showcase throughout the game, and the Jays received many contributions from freshmen Merklein and Ney on both ends of the floor.  Bobruk provided a second-half spark, while Gentry and Monroe provided solid defensive contributions.  Once again, the Wheaton seniors came through down the stretch along with Bowen.  Bottom line, it was a thriller to watch!