WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Backseat Driver · January 16, 2013, 10:06:27 PM

Going to overtime in Wheaton, tied at 48. This game is U-G-L-Y.

After a Wheaton turnover under the NPU basket with 2.9 seconds left, North Park missed two open layups in the final seconds.

Backseat Driver · January 16, 2013, 10:22:54 PM

Wheaton/NPU going to a second overtime after Nicole Kruckman splits a pair of free throws with .9 seconds left in the first OT. The officiating in this game is absolutely horrendous, both ways.

iwu70 · January 16, 2013, 10:38:19 PM

IWU solves the NCC "system" handily, 125-89, with five players in double figures. Good game for improving ones' stats. Titans shot a good percentage, ran wild over NCC.

Keep it rolling Titans, gotta grind out the wins, stay in position for the end of the season run.

Looks like Seibring had a career scoring night, also good games from McMahon, Gardner, Bilek, and Scurlock. Even with the departures and health issues, the Titans still have lots of weapons. Pretty much everyone got to play tonight.

IWU70

Backseat Driver · January 16, 2013, 10:43:48 PM

Final/2OT:
Wheaton 71
North Park 64

Wheaton simply outlasted the Vikings tonight in King Arena, and escaped with an important CCIW victory. This game was played at a slow, grind-it-out pace; but when Wheaton finally pushed the tempo in the 2nd OT they were able to get some separation. North Park had opportunities to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but came up empty. Breanna Bohlen and Brooke Olson opened the second OT with back-to-back threes to finally get some separation in what was an otherwise seesaw game. Maria Panaggio had some really key offensive boards down the stretch as well.

Kayla McCall had a great game for the Vikings, connecting on 5 of 8 three-pointers and finishing with 17 points. Kamauria Acree had 13 points and 14 rebounds, albeit on 14 shot attempts.

Breanna Bohlen was the MVP on offense for Wheaton, finishing with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. She hit some big shots at very critical times in this game. As mentioned above, Maria Panaggio had some big rebounds and had 11 total. Four Wheaton players reached double figures.

Wheaton needs to finish possessions better against Carthage on Saturday. The Lady Reds are rolling right now, leaving the other contenders with little margin for error.

Backseat Driver · January 16, 2013, 10:49:33 PM

The other finals:

@Carthage 63
Elmhurst 33

Augustana 69
@Millikin 55

RogK · January 17, 2013, 11:51:55 AM

I was at the North Park vs Wheaton game. Several players had to be exhausted after that one : 50:00 played by Olson and Acree, 49:00 by Yalda (lots of good work from Shaina), 46:00 by Zeller. NP's Nicole Kruckman's 39:00 were pretty impressive all-told; she was a major defensive presence, had some deflections that didn't show in the stats, got hit in the mouth (by an elbow?), hit her arm very hard on the floor, but stayed in the game. She's one tough kid and one of the best freshmen in the league.
In one sense (excellent effort from both teams), both teams deserved to win. But, both sides screwed up at various times and either could have lost based on their own play. I didn't think the officiating was that bad and it didn't help one team or the other.
But, now I really need to see a high-scoring game!

RogK · January 17, 2013, 01:02:42 PM

On that last topic, Illinois Wesleyan's 125 pts and 50 FGs set new records for CCIW play.

RogK · January 17, 2013, 01:18:58 PM

Among those who did well for Carthage last night were : Michelle Wenzel (14 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blocks), Stephanie Kuzmanic (14 pts, 6r, 5 assists). Cailee Corcoran had 4 steals. Gabby Chapa had 5 assists and 0 TOs; the conference-only stats show that she has the best Assist/TO ratio in the league.
Some very good performances in the other game : for Augie, Molly Etheridge scored 27 and Gianna Pecora had 19, plus 8 rebs; Millikin's Jasmine Johnson (in 22:00) had 13 pts, 9 rebs, 7 blocks, 3 steals and 0 fouls.

Backseat Driver · January 17, 2013, 03:48:45 PM

Quote from: RogK on January 17, 2013, 11:51:55 AM
I was at the North Park vs Wheaton game. Several players had to be exhausted after that one : 50:00 played by Olson and Acree, 49:00 by Yalda (lots of good work from Shaina), 46:00 by Zeller. NP's Nicole Kruckman's 39:00 were pretty impressive all-told; she was a major defensive presence, had some deflections that didn't show in the stats, got hit in the mouth (by an elbow?), hit her arm very hard on the floor, but stayed in the game. She's one tough kid and one of the best freshmen in the league.
In one sense (excellent effort from both teams), both teams deserved to win. But, both sides screwed up at various times and either could have lost based on their own play. I didn't think the officiating was that bad and it didn't help one team or the other.
But, now I really need to see a high-scoring game!

Yeah, definitely some impressive minutes played by those players you mentioned. And it seemed like all of them were still playing at a pretty high level even in the 2nd OT.

Regarding the refs, I'll take your word for it since you were at the game. But from the video I thought the game was called extremely poorly (though I would agree it didn't favor either side). The examples that stand out in particular were the phantom traveling call in the backcourt on NPU late in regulation (or possibly the first OT), and the "foul" on Brooke Olson that put Nicole Kruckman at the foul line at the end of the first OT -- from the video, it looked pretty clear that Olson was blindsided by Kruckman's screen (a completely legal screen) on the play; a no-call in my opinion.

But again, you probably had a better look at things since you were actually there.

Gregory Sager · January 17, 2013, 03:58:32 PM

I'm, of course, deeply disappointed in the outcome of last night's NPU @ WC game. But I'm nevertheless proud that the Vikings came so close -- irritatingly close, in fact, given their tremendous chances to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime -- to beating a very good Wheaton team on its' own floor. The fact that they came so close to doing so without the services of Sarah Peterson, and with Dana Christensen relegated to three gimpy minutes on the floor before she was taken out for good, is a real testament to the grit of this NPU team.

Now, however, the Vikings will face a different sort of task altogether, as they face the likelihood of having to come to terms with North Central's accelerated System pace while fielding a roster that isn't at full strength. I still expect an NPU win, but I do not think that it will be a pretty one -- and an upset is not out of the question.

74impala · January 17, 2013, 04:42:03 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on January 17, 2013, 03:58:32 PM
The fact that they came so close to doing so without the services of Sarah Peterson, and with Dana Christensen relegated to three gimpy minutes on the floor before she was taken out for good, is a real testament to the grit of this NPU team.

Hopefully both teams will be at full strength by the time they see each other on Feb. 6th. Wheaton has been missing the services of Maris Hovee for the past couple games and those of Lauren Graham since early Dec.

RogK · January 17, 2013, 05:50:18 PM

Greg, I'm wondering if NCC's top 3FG shooter Jenny Swanson (best in pct .333 and quantity 36 in 16g) may be injured. She played only 2 minutes last night. And they were without Paula Elum, one of their few taller players. They did get Lauren Hernandez back quickly from a knee injury.
In conference play, they've had 3 fairly close games and've been clobbered twice. As for NP, the league is learning not to underestimate them. Or should we say misunderestimate?

Gregory Sager · January 17, 2013, 06:50:08 PM

It's nice to no longer be underestimated, or misunderestimated, or however you want to put it. But it'd be even nicer if NPU was actually beating the teams that've characteristically been in the top half of the league the past few seasons. This makes two Wednesdays in a row that NPU has been the "close, but no cigar" team of the CCIW.

Backseat Driver · January 17, 2013, 08:07:43 PM

Coach Kent Madsen's thoughts after last night's game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npsQYiIWI8g&feature=player_embedded

Last night was a really important win for the Thunder heading into Saturday's matchup with Carthage. It gives Wheaton confidence that they can win a tight, down-to-the-wire type game against a stout defensive team. The injuries have made things difficult for the Thunder, but they're not making excuses and they continue to give maximum effort. Wheaton has fared well in Kenosha in recent years, and I think that Saturday will be a good, hard-fought battle between too really good teams.

RogK · January 18, 2013, 11:32:08 AM

To update my previous post, I've found out that Jenny Swanson must have hurt her back while slamming into the bleachers, having saved a ball headed out of bounds. Hopefully she will heal quickly.
Backseat Driver, care to predict a score (not necessarily a winner) for that Wheaton-Carthage game? Our first thoughts might be that it'll be in the 50s, but both teams have had some higher-scoring games this season. So maybe 69-64? 77-62?
I'll be at the NC-NP game which I'd like to be 106-105, but that's probably not realistic.
Elmhurst at Augie could be a decent battle. IWU-Millikin could seem a mismatch based on the records, but maybe Coach Kerans will come up with a successful plan. A lot of career wins for the coaches involved in that one.