WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[bblover]

I have a feeling that IWU is going to crush Wheaton tonight, but you never know.

[RogK]

That's a good summary of the Elmhurst win.
The only thing I'd see differently is that I don't think it's a problem to have 9 players play 16 or more minutes each. But then, I really like the Olivet Nazarene method, which always has the playing time spread around among 15 or 16 players, using hockey-like shifts.
NP's Roxie Jones did not appear to be at full strength and, as you say, Peterson did not play. We of course don't know if NP could've won if both were fully healthy. There will be a re-match.
EC won by 13, Millikin won by 13 and Carthage won by 14.
Jackie Errico had a fine game for NC (28 pts, 9/13, 5/5 FT, 5 threes). Carthage's Dani Ripkey also hit 5 threes. Allison Groessl scored 13 pts on 9 shots.
Beth Wellbaum had 15 pts, 7 assists for Millikin.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park was led by Roxanne Jones, who scored 20 points, mostly from the inside, but she sat during the final several minutes of the games. Without Peterson and Jones, they simply did not have enough firepower in those waning minutes.

Roxie Jones has been fighting a respiratory ailment for the past week to ten days. I'm not sure if it's bronchitis or walking pneumonia or what, but it was serious enough for her to have to get chest x-rays this week. I'm surprised that she's even playing at this point, as she seemed to be laboring through a lot of Tuesday night's game and wasn't able to return to the floor during those crucial final minutes.

As you said, without her and Sarah Peterson NPU just doesn't have enough scoring punch available. I'm hopeful that NPU can get the two of them healthy soon; even though the conference tournament is probably out of the question now, I'd like to see NPU put together a nice run at the end of the season that the Vikings can build upon heading into 2011-12.

[RogK]

Greg, you've got me thinking. Even though we are only 5/14ths done with the conference season, some teams (your Vikings among them) do face a steep climb to make it to the upper half of the ladder.
Here's a look at the losses so far:
IWU --- none
Millikin --- lost to IWU
Wheaton --- lost to IWU
Carthage --- lost to IWU, W
Elmhurst --- lost to IWU, M, C
North Central --- lost to IWU, W, M, C
North Park --- lost to M, NC, W, E
Augustana --- lost to NP, E, W, C, M

[thunder38]

I would say Wheaton was far from getting crushed last night at the Shirk.  The Thunder played Wesleyan about as well as you could play them in their own building.  Wheaton gave IWU everything they wanted in the game and afterwards Mia Smith referred to it as a "gut-check win".  Wheaton had the lead cut from 14 down  to two and had their chances but IWU came back and hit back to back threes that finally kept the Thunder at bay.  Wheaton just ran out of gas in the last two minutes after spending all their energy cutting the lead down.  Definitely a much closer game than the final score indicated.

Great second half by Stacey Arlis to help lead the Titans and Olivia Lett did a nice job in the first half carrying the offense at points.  She created a matchup problem in the first half but Potts did and Hovee did a better job on her in the second half.  An incredible night by Laura Karsten, 24 points on 8-11 shooting.  Great night by the freshman Maris Hovee for the Thunder.  She scored eight points with seven rebounds and was extremely impressive in the transition game as she had a nice look away pass to Karsten for a lay-in, a pass fake that got Solari diving away from the basket, and a breakaway lay-in. 

We'll see how the Thunder rebound from a loss for the first time in a month and hopefully they can come back and pull the "upset" on Saturday night at Fanagel.

[Titan Q]

Wheaton gave IWU everything they wanted

Looking at the running score, it does not look like this was a close game at all...

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/WBB/WBB2011/HTML/iwwbb16.htm

What am I missing?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wheaton gave IWU everything they wanted

Looking at the running score, it does not look like this was a close game at all...

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/WBB/WBB2011/HTML/iwwbb16.htm

What am I missing?

Wheaton DID get it down to 2 w/ 10:11 to go, but the Titans immediately went on a 12-0 run.

Momentarily scary, but not close.

[Hoosier Titan]

Wheaton gave IWU everything they wanted

Looking at the running score, it does not look like this was a close game at all...

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/WBB/WBB2011/HTML/iwwbb16.htm

What am I missing?

I think thunder38 and I saw the same game, but his/her glasses are tinted orange while mine have a green tinge.  I would agree with most of the specific comments except I didn't see the Wheaton defenders stopping Olivia Lett at all--she scored at will in both halves (along with garnering 7 assists).  She was out of the game for an extended period in the second half; her hand was hurting and we were sure she wouldn't be back, but she was.  Stacey Arlis did have a monster game and Melissa Gardner impressed with 4/6 shooting (3/5 on threes) in 13 minutes.  The one poor aspect of the Titans' game was free-throw shooting, as they went 10 of 17 from the line.  In a game as tough and physical as this one, you need to make the free throws you get.

In fact, one can make the case that the difference in free throws kept the score as close as it was, as the Thunder went to the line 29 times and made 25 of them.  Impressive.

As Mr. Ypsi said, there were a couple of mild scares, but overall the score was fairly representative of the game.  If the performances I've seen from Elmhurst and Wheaton are representative, I would say Wheaton will be the favorites on Saturday.

[RogK]

In their first five conference games, the IWU Titans have made 107/182 2FGs (.588!) and 45/109 3FGs (.413, excellent). No wonder they are 5-0.
Their average game so far : 21/36 2FG, 9/22 3FG, 10/14 FT (roughly), 21 turnovers.

[Hoosier Titan]

Just in from the IWU-North Park games and it's late.  This is just to point out that for the week IWU's Olivia Lett totaled 36 points (19 and 17), 8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals playing an average of 30 minutes a game. 

[bblover]

Elmhurst topped Wheaton by 14 at home last night. Elmhurst never trailed by more than 2 points, and after it took control in the final seven minutes of the first half, its lead was never less than 7. Elmhurst started three seniors (Monroe, Joiner, Harris) and two juniors (Ney, Merklein). Each of them played well. As a result, all five played 27 minutes or more. No sub saw more than 14 minutes, but all six subs contributed meaningfully to the victory, providing good play as well as needed relief to the starters. Contrast those numbers to the Tuesday home game versus an undermanned North Park, where one freshman and one sophomore started and nine players saw 16 minutes or more minutes. I described the North Park game as "very competitive until the final minutes though by no means a work of art." Last night was a Picasso (read: Elmhurst looked like a very good team).

Often playing four out, Elmhurst pushed the ball inside repeatedly for easy scores. When Wheaton tried to bring help inside, Elmhurst moved the ball well, better than anytime this season by far. Lots of skip passes, lots of easy looks. Ney, from the inside, and Monroe, from all over, led the Bluejays in the first half. Scoring a dozen in the second hafl, Merklein led all scorers with 18. You could see her confidence building as Elmhurst dominated the second half. Elmhurst did turn the ball over 19 times, but Wheaton's quickness causes every team some problems. On the defensive end, Elmhurst was alert and aggressive, never letting any of Wheaton's offensive weapons get untracked. Wheaton got very little that was easy. I was somewhat surprised how meekly Wheaton finished the game, but perhaps, they were frustrated by Elmhurst's consistent (40 minutes of) strong offensive and defensive play.

What does it all mean as far as the CCIW. I am not sure. IWU has taken control (again). Even though Carthage is 3-3, two of those loses came in close finishes on the road versus Milikin and Wheaton. I still suspect that they will finish second. Milikin is well positioned for third, and despite last night's loss, Wheaton is the favorite for fourth. Elmhurst, however, has a real chance to make the playoffs. They will probably need one more win against an upper division team as well as taking care of business versus North Central, North Park and Augustana. Consistency has been a problem for Elmhurst. We will see.     

[RogK]

To supplement bblover's report :
A large amount of credit to EC Coach Werner and staff. EC was very prepared to deal with Wheaton's halfcourt offense. They limited Lindsey Brenneman (a wonderful shooter) to 1 three pt attempt in her 36:00.
Some of the Jays who were very sharp include :
Ceejay Harris, who did many things really well -- 8 rebs, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals.
Rashida Joiner, had 6 assists and 0 turnovers.
Stephanie Mitchell, poured in 8 pts in just 7:00.
Elmhurst played with good energy and optimism.
Wheaton looked at bit demoralized, perhaps residue from the loss to IWU.
Maris Hovee got 5 rebounds in 15:00, but the Thunder's other big players (Potts, Brooks, Bowen) combined for an unsatisfactory 10 rebs in 69:00.
We'll see if Wheaton can get back on its feet quickly.
They'll have to find a way to employ a more free-wheeling offense, one that gets open looks for Brenneman and some of their other fine shooters. On a positive note, Wheaton's Brooke Olson made one of the best steals we'll see all year, making a backward scoop to a teammate while sprinting to the sideline, her momentum carrying her five or six steps up into the stands, followed by a quick dash back down. It is always fun to watch her play.

[bblover]

All great points Roger. One additional point. I have been watching college games for a few decades, but I have never seen a team return to the floor as quickly as Elmhurst did after the end of the first half. Clearly, Coach Werner did not have much to say, and whatever she did say in those two or three minutes in the locker room worked great. Elmhurst played well in the first half and even better in the second half; it probably did not hurt that Elmhurst got 10+ minutes to warm up for the second half.

[iwu70]

Titans keep rolling along.  Good performances by Olivia Lett, Hope Schulte and Karen Solari on Saturday.  The Titans are getting ever closer to the proverbial driver's seat in the CCIW race. 

[jshoops]

Long time no post...  We attended the IWU-NPU game Saturday and we sat with the Christina and the rest of the Solari family. 

It was a bit of sloppy game played by both sides.  NPU did not give up and made a couple of runs to get the deficit back to within 5 and 11 in the 2nd half. In the end, NPU clearly did not have the depth to keep up with the bigger IWU team and the outside 3's by IWU. 

On a personal note, my daughter is playing for Maine South HS and the new Freshman-B coach, Christina Solari.  Under Christina, the B-team is at 14-1.