WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Hoosier Titan]

Holly didn't list all the superstitions either!  It is a good piece.  And the regular fans all have their own superstitions, but Holly could hardly know or write about those.

If you are interested in posting a few, I would love to hear more.  Anything particularly interesting?  And, how about the fans?

I am sure others would love to hear these as well.

Nothing very interesting at all, I'm afraid.  For my part:  my husband always wears the same T-shirt and IWU women's basketball sweatshirt (laundered in between, of course!).  At Shirk, we always sit in the same seats behind the bench--and this makes it clear that the superstitions are just that, because we left for England for my sabbatical on December 15!

Probably my biggest superstitions have to do with not making assumptions or making predictions.  The only time I can remember, in recent history, making a public prediction about a winner was in last summer's Confederation Cup (men's soccer in South Africa).  Before the US/ Spain (#1 in the world) match, it was asked on the men's soccer board here whether the US had a chance and I said "Sadly, no."  What resulted was the biggest US win I can remember!  So no pick 'ems for me (and no betting, either).

[RogK]

Halfway through the conference season:
HOME records:
IWU 4-0
Mill 3-1
Carth 2-1
Elmh 2-1
Aug 1-1
Whe 2-2
NC 1-3
NP 0-4

ROAD records:
Elmh 4-0
IWU 3-0
Carth 3-1
Mill 1-2
NP 1-2
Whe 1-2
NC 0-3
Aug 0-5

[Titan Q]

Live video of IWU @ Carthage.  Open the following URL in QuickTime...

rtsp://wolfgang.carthage.edu:554/carthagelivestream2.sdp

[Mr. Ypsi]

Halftime in Kenosha: IWU 35, Carthage 31.

Carthage led most of the way, but IWU scored the last 7 points of the half.

Quite a contrast (as many expected) from that beat down in Bloomington!

[buf]

IWU goes down, 72-67.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wow, buf, you're quick!

There won't be back-to-back undefeated seasons for the Titans.

Carthage led virtually the whole game, but the Titans never went away.  The story of the game is free throws - Carthage made 24 (in 31 tries), IWU only 12 (of 19).

[Hoosier Titan]

Wow, buf, you're quick!

There won't be back-to-back undefeated seasons for the Titans.

Carthage led virtually the whole game, but the Titans never went away.  The story of the game is free throws - Carthage made 24 (in 31 tries), IWU only 12 (of 19).

I was all set to blame the Titans' free throw shooting for the loss.  It was a poor effort all around for them, though.  BUT, credit is due to Carthage for helping to make that happen.  There should be some important lessons learned from watching film on this one.

[Titan Q]

Throughout the game, Carthage did a great job attacking the basket.  A lot of teams get across halfcourt against IWU's intense pressure defense and then try to get into their halfcourt offense, only to turn it over time and time again.  Carthage would get across the timeline and go right at the basket...and they did a great job finishing.

The Titans just did not execute very well today, but that's going to happen throughout the course of the conference season...especially on the road.  Great run by the Titans...time to start another streak.

Great performance by the Lady Reds.

[Titan Q]

(I don't attribute the loss to FT shooting...I thought IWU did plenty of other things to lose the game, and Carthage plenty of other things to win it.)

[Mr. Ypsi]

(I don't attribute the loss to FT shooting...I thought IWU did plenty of other things to lose the game, and Carthage plenty of other things to win it.)

I wasn't talking poor ft shooting - 12 for 19 is not excellent, but it is decent.  But when a team loses by 5, while scoring 12 fewer points from the line, to me that is a key stat!

[Hoosier Titan]

Agree with both of you--i said I was all set (right after the game ended) to blame foul shooting for the loss.  12 for 19--63%--is still not good, but that's only one thing out of many. 

The Titans simply made too many mistakes, and the Reds deserve credit for helping that happen. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Any predictions on the new poll?

I'd expect Amherst would ascend to #1, with a dog-fight between Kean and IWU for #2.  Current #3 WashU picked up their second loss (the first was to IWU), while current #5 Hope's only loss is to ... Carthage (and neutral court rather than Kenosha).

So I expect the Titans to fall no further than 2 or 3.

With Carthage having the only victory over Hope and avenging the earlier loss to IWU, how far will they jump?  Perhaps too many losses to jump into the top 10, but I think they probably belong there.

[RogK]

Congratulations to Coach Bernero and his team for the win over IWU.
Congratulations, too, to Coach Werner and her team on being tied for 1st.
I'm sure that each of them are aiming for even better accomplishments, especially if they can get into the NCAA tourney field.

[RogK]

Congratulations to Coach Smith for being tied for first, too. 7-1 ain't bad.
We tend to expect flawless excellence from this IWU bunch, but they should be applauded for 7-1 or 8-0.

[iwumichigander]

Congratulations to Coach Smith for being tied for first, too. 7-1 ain't bad.
We tend to expect flawless excellence from this IWU bunch, but they should be applauded for 7-1 or 8-0.

Applause!  However, it certainly makes the regular conference race interesting.  But Feb 6th (Elmhurst @ IWU) now becomes a "must win" game for the Titans to have a good shot to win out and host the conference tournament.  And, I think IWU might just need to run the table the remainder of the season to assure it.