WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

Congratulations to Fiona, first CCIW Player of the Week :
http://www.cciw.org/news/2012/11/19/WBB_1119124926.aspx

[keith45]

Yes, KC and Larynn will replace some of the newer freshmen in the rotations and should add a boost (if not only from going through a year of CCIW games!)

I agree, I think we'll see some weird stats from NCC this year!

[Backseat Driver]

Solid opening weekend for Wheaton, starting 2-0. I realize Blackburn is somewhere south of "good", and St. Mary's graduated a ton, but 2-0 is a good start nonetheless.

The most important thing, in my view, is that Brooke Olson had a really nice couple of games. Wheaton will rely on her leadership and experience a ton this year so it is good to see her have a good start to the season. Look for this to be her best season.

Wheaton is also getting some good contributions from freshmen. Hopefully that continues as the schedule progresses.

Wheaton hosts Aurora tomorrow, a game I hope to catch via video stream -- a mid-afternoon tipoff for me on the West Coast.

[iwu70]

Looks like Brooke Olson is going to have a huge season this year.

Congrats to Fiona, first CCIW Player of the Week for the new season.

Looking forward to the games @Shirk this weekend, to see really where the new look Titans match up with some of the truly top programs in the nation.  No cupcakes here on Thanksgiving weekend.

Happy Turkey Day all!

IWU70

[mark_reichert]

Looking forward to the games @Shirk this weekend, to see really where the new look Titans match up with some of the truly top programs in the nation.  No cupcakes here on Thanksgiving weekend.
IWU70

Thanks for mentioning that Coe was a preseason #21.  I left out mention here that they've had to good trips to the NCAA Tournament the last two years.  At least I think close losses to Final Four bound teams is nothing to be embarrassed about.

[iwu70]

Coe has been excellent in recent years.  Titans just got by them on several occasions in recent years, in NCAA tournament games.  All the match-ups this weekend @The Shirk are going to be superb games.  Better shake of the turkey and dressing very soon and be ready to play on Saturday/Sunday.  With Calvin going down bigtime earlier to Point, whoever wins this Tip-Off event will likely be in the top five in the coming polls and rankings.  Early season, of course, when teams are still finding their identity, but a great test for all these regularly strong programs.

IMHO, it looks to me like Lexi Baltes at PG is going to be every bit as good as Britt Hasselbring was for the Titans these past 2-3 seasons.  And, Shelby Jackson has also started out very strongly with two excellent games in Inidiana last weekend.  When Gardner, Bilek and McMahon find their shooting range, these Titans are going to be pretty darn good.  Katy Seibring brings another strong, new dimension at various positions, with improved fitness on her part.  Kasey Reaber not back yet from a hand injury, as far as I know.

IWU70

[Backseat Driver]

Wheaton 96
Aurora 44

Brooke Olson - 21 points, 4 assists
Breanna Bohlen - 16 points, 4-4 on threes
Hannah Considine - 14 points, 4 rebounds
Moriah Reeves - 11 points

This game was respectable at the half (48-29), in large part because Aurora hit several quick-release shots at the end of the shot clock. Otherwise, Wheaton dominated as expected. The Thunder's first unit (Olson, Bohlen, Reeves, Graham, Hovee) played pretty well together tonight. It's a pretty strong starting 5. After that, there's a whole lot of freshmen coming off the bench for coach Madsen. He has a talented group of newcomers, and I'm intrigued to see how the rotation works itself out closer to CCIW play.

There was an Aurora player who left injured early in the first half with an apparent leg injury. Not sure of her name, but hope she's ok.

Wheaton's next couple of games figure to bring more of a challenge, against perennially-strong programs Chicago and Simpson, both on the road. The Thunder has shown a tendency to not play very well at the Ratner Center over the years.

[RogK]

Having seen them for the first time last evening, I concur with your positive remarks about Wheaton's freshmen, Backseat Driver. The five that played a significant number of minutes (Reeves, Considine, Siebold, Zeller, Drury) all look athletic and are good sized. A freshman who could be (?) the best of the bunch (Brogan, all-stater in Michigan) is currently injured. I think she's expected to be able to play this season, but it is not known how soon.
Elsewhere, Stephanie Kuzmanic had a very sharp game (9/11 FG, 2/2 FT, 7 assists, 0 TO, 3 steals) leading Carthage 85-55 over Beloit.
Millikin topped Edgewood 67-54; Brittany Czaplicki scored 20.
Elmhurst's shooting was a little off (19/47 2FG, 3/17 3FG, 4/8 FT), maybe due to buslag? They lost at Coe, 56-51.

[Backer]

Buslag is a good excuse as any, Rog!  A good three hour trip there though that was at least much better than the five hour fog-laden trip back home.

Bluejay shooting was off while Coe shot very effectively with good production off their bench.  I have to give credit to the Jays for responding to several deep holes as they fought their way back from a number of large deficits a number of times although in their aggression a number of starters got into foul trouble and had to sit decreasing their scoring ability.

[RogK]

Wednesday results :
Augustana whipped Knox 83-56. It looks like Knox is using the "System" again this year and that style of play usually features exaggerated stats of one sort or another. In this game, Augie fully dominated the boards, 71-30. Knox's pressing (I assume) induced 47 TOs by Augie. Knox's shooting was bleak (11/42 2FG, 6/44 3FG), with some (or much?) credit going to Augie's defense.
Augie's Marissa Pezzopane had 18 pts (9/12 FG) and 13 rebs.
North Park won again, 73-64 over Benedictine. Sarah Peterson had a fine game : 6/7 2FG, 3/4 3FG, a FT, 6 rebs, 2 blocks, 3 steals). Kamauria Acree did well too, including 17 pts. NP had just 11 TOs.
Monmouth got past North Central 98-87. NC's Sophie Newson grabbed 9 rebs in 18:00, while teammate Amanda Hoye (speedy freshman point guard) contributed 13 pts, 4 assists and 3 steals. NC is also using the "System" but this game didn't have that many outlandish stats. Monmouth's Marla Willard had 21 rebounds in 27:00; that's pretty good!
(subsequent comment : "exaggerated" is not the best word, since the stats do measure reality and don't exaggerate it)

[iwu70]

George Fox opens the season 0-2 as Hannah Munger is still not back from injury. 

Calvin has also lost a game early on, to the Point, so new D3hoops ranking will surely look different at the top this coming week.

Titans play Coe this afternoon, after the opening game featuring DePauw vs. Wash U.  Some mighty big games in this "tip-off" affair.  (Inter-City HS tournament tonight at the Shirk, too, so four games in all from 1 p.m. thru 7:30 in the evening.  Great use of the Shirk during the holidays, with basketball almost every day, every night)

Third place game at 1 p.m. tomorrow, and championship game to follow at 3 p.m. @The Shirk.   All four women's teams participating are top 25 teams.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Nice piece in the Pantagraph today about the early Titan games and the emergence of junior Katy Seibring as the Titans top "sixth man," person off the bench.  She's playing very well after the initial few games.  See pantagraph.com   Titans balanced scoring so far, with 4-5 possibly scoring in double figures, spreading the shots and scoring around, in the post-Olivia Lett era.  Top scorer so far is Shelby Jackson, in the post. 

Initial games show that there are quite a number of strong, improved teams in the CCIW this season.  Should be a great conference race. 

Titans vs. Coe today at 3 p.m. @The Shirk.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Two wonderfully competitive games at The Shirk today -- with Depauw prevailing over Wash U 60-59 on FTs with 6 seconds remaining.  Both teams very talented, playing very tight D, and shooting it pretty well for early in the season.  Could have gone either way, though DP does seem slightly the tougher team overall. 

Titans used "run and jump," relentless D to prevail over a very fine Coe team, 81-67, though the game was much closer than this final score indicates.  Coe just didn't respond very well initially to the IWU pressure and were quickly down 25-7.  To their credit they fought back, even took a 4 pt. lead at one point in the second half before IWU's overall pressure, treyball game, and superior depth took their toll.  This Titan team is really going to be good.

The new normal in the post-Olivia Lett era is 4-5 players in or near double figures.  Great improvement, hustle by many of the players, great foot speed, and excellent treyball shooting.  The new balance in scoring, many contributions today was:  Seibring (off the bench) 17, Jackson 17, Gardner 15, McMahon 12, Bilek 9, and Lexi Baltes running the show.  IWU forced 36 Coe TOs., and therein lies the story.   Several of these Titan players had 5-6 steals and made any number of good defensive, deflection and hustle plays.  Lots of positives today on D, without a doubt.  Nice contribution by Taylor Reaber off the bench. 

More tomorrow -- Wash U vs. Coe at 1 p.m., IWU vs. DePauw for the crown, at 3 p.m.

Great intensity to both games and four excellent teams showing off their early season skills.  Have a feeling these teams may meet again down the road in March. 

Great to see the Titans playing so very well so very early in the season.  Just say'in.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

With a fair degree of confidence, I'll predict the winner of the DePauw/IWU title game will be the new #1 when the poll comes out (with UWSP likely to be #2 if they beat St. Thomas tomorrow).

[Titan Q]

With a fair degree of confidence, I'll predict the winner of the DePauw/IWU title game will be the new #1 when the poll comes out (with UWSP likely to be #2 if they beat St. Thomas tomorrow).

If IWU beats DePauw, wouldn't Mount Union have a better chance than IWU to be #1?