WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU up over Elmhurst at the half, 45-23.  Lett with 16.  IWU pressure taking its toll on the Bluejays.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

W/ 10+ to go, Titans still by 22 - no signs of a comeback yet.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final: IWU 75, Elmhurst 56.

[iwu70]

Titans over EC, 75-56.  After about 4-5 minutes, this game was never close, with the Titans maintaining about a 20 point lead throughout.

Lett with 22, 7 rebounds.  Hasselbring back and also with 7 rebounds.  Solari also played, had 7 points.  Karen was injured in the second half, so let's hope that is something only minor.  Titans had 6 players scoring 6, 7, or 8 points.  Great depth tonight.  The "run and jump" did in the Bluejays.  Everyone contributed.  Titans won the score line on almost every category, including rebounding. 

Titans now in first place by themselves, 6-0.  Look'in good.

I truly thought this EC team would give the Titans a tougher, closer game.  It appears Carthage and IWU are the class of the league race so far this year.

Hard to over-estimate the value of Olivia Lett and her abilities to play wing, post, PG, and defend and rebound well to boot. 


IWU70 

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 48
North Park 36

NPU and Wheaton played one of the worst offensive halves I've ever seen, as it was only 18-13 in favor of the Sonic Atmospheric Distuburance when the two teams went into the locker room. NPU went ten and a half minutes without scoring, Wheaton went six and a half. I've seen those two schools play baseball games that had more scoring. Both defenses were pretty good, but it was really more a matter of the offenses being absolutely putrid. Both teams were so bad that, when NPU went into its ten-minute drought while up 11-4, when the drought ended with a Roxie Jones jumper it tied the game at 13! At least Wheaton had an excuse, and two of WC's better players (Brenneman and Karstens) didn't dress for the game. NPU, although it was missing Dominikque Williams, really had no excuse.

In the second half, Wheaton worked its way up to mediocre while North Park stayed stuck on putrid. NPU actually outshot, outrebounded, and had fewer turnovers than Wheaton in the second half, but Wheaton got to the line repeatedly and did its scoring there. Wheaton was led in scoring by Brooke Olson, who had 13, and Jennifer Lee, who had ten. NPU was paced by Roxie Jones, who had 11 and 8, and by Dana Christensen, who had 11 and 7.

A very disappointing afternoon for the Park, particularly as it came on the heels of a strong effort on Tuesday night at the Carver Center.

[Backseat Driver]

I truly thought this EC team would give the Titans a tougher, closer game.  It appears Carthage and IWU are the class of the league race so far this year.

I think IWU is in a class by itself, to be honest. At least to this point. Sure, Carthage nearly beat IWU, but the Lady Reds were just beaten soundly at Wheaton.

I got a little sick to my stomach when I saw the Wheaton/NPU boxscore from today. I guess this would fall into the "a win is a win" category for the Thunder, especially missing 2/3 of its all-CCIW backcourt.

[iwu70]

Past game interview on WJBC by Coach Mia Smith indicated how happy she was about the Titans performance in soundly beating EC, especially the play of the team and the "run and jump" in the first half.  Unfortunately, she also indicated that Karen Solari got dinged up twice and may have a concussion.  Let's hope Karen is OK and not out of action too too long.  She's a key piece to the Titan post presence. 

Congrats to the Titans on beating EC so convincingly and for the 6-0 start to the CCIW campaign.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

If Karen Solari is out for any time, ya suppose we could put her big sister in her uniform?  No one would notice, would they?!

[Backseat Driver]

Seems the remaining schedule for Elmhurst is a bit tougher, with more games still to play vs. "contenders" than IWU.

This is true and I overlooked it in my previous post. Elmhurst definitely came back to earth yesterday, and now they head up to Carthage. In addition to that game, the Bluejays still have road games at Wheaton and IWU remaining.

One thing Wheaton did well offensively yesterday was again shooting the three-point shot. After starting the CCIW season 6-40 (15%) from behind the arc against IWU and Elmhurst, the Thunder have connected on 40-76 (53%) over the last four games. That's a pretty significant turnaround.

[AndOne]

Just wanted to say I thought the announcers for the Millikin/North Central women's game last night did a very nice job.

[RogK]

I saw the IWU win at Elmhurst. I hope Karen Solari's head is OK; a scary situation for a while there.
EC will need to devise some way to deal with IWU's trapping if they are to have any chance in the rematch in Bloomington.
Again impressed by Olivia Lett; she does things nobody else can do in our conference.
Carthage used a 50-27 2nd half to top Augie after a 25-25 1st half. Diana Jacklin led with 23 pts (10/15, 3/4 FT), while teammate Cailee Corcoran had 13 pts and 8 rebs in just 20 min. Natalie Runge scored 17 (4/4, 9/10 FT) in 22 min.
Millikin and North Central were knotted at 35 at intermission, but Millikin ran off the 1st 10 pts thereafter and held on for a 70-60 win. Heather Pruemer and Crystal Zeigler each tallied 19 for M, with Cecily Aldridge grabbing 6 steals and 8 rebs.
North Central made 9 of 20 3FGs but only 11 of 44 2FGs ("live by the two, die by the two"?).

[Gregory Sager]

As disheartening as yesterday's loss was for NPU, I want to put in a good word for Vikings junior guard Dana Christensen. She was really struggling badly with her outside shot in non-conference play, averaging less than 30% from beyond the arc in November and December. But she's undergone a complete turnaround in CCIW action, hitting 13 of 27 thus far for a .481 average from downtown that's got her within range of the league lead (she's currently third) and upping her season percentage to .348. NPU doesn't shoot well as a team -- the Vikings are seventh in team shooting percentage in CCIW play and eighth in the overall stats -- which makes it all that much more important to have Dana shooting well as the Park's primary trey threat.

A big part of shooting the basketball is confidence, especially for an outside shooter, and Dana's has to be pretty high right now.

[iwu70]

RogerK, what actually happened on the play where Karen Solari was hurt?  I could not see it on the video stream from BlueJayTVland.   I sure hope she's OK, as she is a key piece of the Titan's post play.  She's a great person and a very talented and dedicated Titan team member.  Hope she's OK, though it sounds like she might be out for a time if she has a concussion.  Molinari on the men's side was out for 5-6 games, since mid-December, for the same reason. 

I agree with you as well about Olivia Lett.  She really has a level of skill, mobility, court vision and athleticism that is, as far as I've seen all season, just pretty much unmatched in the DIII women's game.  This was so even with the top players we saw earlier from the WAIC, and also throughout the CCIW so far.  Closest I've seen is Jacklin.  In addition, I appreciate her defense, rebounding and consistency.  Look at the games, game in and game out, and she's at 20+ points, 6-7 reounds, with steals, assists, blocks and most games very few TOs.  She's on a roll right now, and hitting FTs at like 85%.  Only Britt Hasselbring on the Titans is better from the charity stripe. 

First half of the season almost in the books.  Hope the Titans can go to 7-0 vs. Millikin on Wednesday evening.  Biggest challenge remaining in conference play will be the return match with Carthage up in Kenosha.  Titans are getting very consistent scoring and good defensive play from all the rest of the supporting cast right now, too -- Bilek, Jackson, Burton, Baltes, Solari, Seibring, Scurlock, McMahon, etc.  They have lots of active, tough, good players.  No hesitation on anyone's part, especially in executing "run and jump."  It's hard to score when you play most of the game in the back court, or in positions in the half court 40 feet from the basket.  Melissa Gardner is hitting her treys, and contributing at a high level, perhaps even an All-CCIW first team level.  Titans did a good job defending EC's top scorers. 

Lots more good basketball to be played, but getting on toward the home stretch now, with 7-8 games to go, and only February to play, before tournament time.  Time flies.

IWU70

[RogK]

iwu70, I didn't notice how Karen hit her head. I think she was in a cluster of players. My eyes were following the ball and I didn't realize she was hurt until the play ended at the other end of the court. Another fan told me Karen hit her head on the floor.
You mentioned, among others, the valuable contributions of IWU's Colleen McMahon. I like what I've seen (3 games) of her so far : a good all-around player, strong and athletic. Elmhurst's McMahon, Fiona, is doing rather well, too. She was very effective Saturday : 6/9 FG, 5/5 FT, 8 rebs, 3 blocks.

[RogK]

Incidentally, we were wondering how Elmhurst's excellent 3FG defense would fare vs IWU's excellent 3FG shooting. IWU made only 3 of 18. At the other end, IWU's 3FG defense permitted only 1/11 shooting by IWU. I'm giving credit to both defenses rather than saying anyone shot crummily!