WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Backseat Driver]

Wheaton 118
North Central 78

Wheaton
Hannah Considine- 33 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
Brooke Olson- 26 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists
Breanna Bohlen- 13 points, 6 rebounds
Maris Hovee- 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists

North Central
Larynn, Shumaker- 16 points, 6 rebounds
Emily Murphy- 12 points, 5 rebounds

Wheaton set school records for points in a half (68 in 2nd half) and points in a game (112) with a big win over North Central tonight at King Arena. Both of the previous records came against Concordia (Ill.) in 1995. The two teams also scored the most combined points for a Wheaton game with 196, breaking the previous record of 188 set in a 104-84 Wheaton loss to Illinois-Chicago in 1984.

The Thunder led by four at the half (50-46) after a ver competitive first 20 minutes. Wheaton missed a number of layups in the opening frame and also had 15 turnovers. North Central, meanwhile, hit 21 of 23 first half free throws and executed very well on offense in the first half.

The second half was a different story, as Wheaton started finishing possessions and stopped fouling. The Cardinals seemed content to allow Hannah Considine to shoot layups, and the Thunder freshman responded with a career night. Wheaton played much more disciplined in the second half and got a ton of open, high percentage looks at the basket. Brooke Olson was terrific on both ends of the floor. In addition to the above stats, she also took 3 charges in this game.

I think it will be interesting to see how this system works for North Central down the road. They seem to have grown into it a lot more as the season has progressed and the players are buying in.

Wheaton resumes normal basketball activities by hosting Augustana on Wednesday night. Wheaton's earlier loss to the Vikings is looming large in the CCIW race right now, and I'm sure the whole team will be ready for the rematch.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The System is a double-edged sword - it can win you some games, but it can also get you totally blown out.  As long as the blow-out losses (now by 39 and 40 to Wheaton, by 36 to IWU) don't start getting in their heads, it is probably a net plus for them.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 60
Augustana 45

Sarah Peterson: 20 pts (4-4 trey), 5 rebs, 5 blks, 4 stls
Dominikque Williams: 6 rebs
Nicole Kruckman: 5 rebs

Jessica Baids: 12pts
Amy Hicks: 6 rebs
Gianna Pecora: 5 rebs
Kayla Boers: 5 rebs

Aside from a late hiccup in which NPU got sloppy with the ball and Augie made a late run to reduce a 24-point NPU lead (46-22) to only 11 (54-43) with a little over a minute left, NPU played a really solid game. That's when Augie coach Mark Beinborn really kind of blew it by incurring a technical foul after getting too vehement protesting an offensive foul called on Augie's Chaney Tambling under the basket. I thought the poor guy was going to pop his appendectomy stitches! That took the air out of his team's momentum and pretty much eliminated what slender chance Augie had of completing the comeback.

NPU shot a solid 49% from the field, while doing an outstanding defensive job in holding Augie to only 29% from the field. Augie did outrebound NPU, 37-29, which has to be a source of concern for North Park coach Amanda Reese -- especially the 16 offensive boards that Augie accrued.

What more can be said about Sarah Peterson? Playing on that bad knee, she did everything but pop the popcorn in the lobby before the game. She is so much fun to watch. She never cheats her team in terms of effort.

Solid win for NPU. Now the Vikings have to keep that momentum that they've regained when they head down to Bloomington to play Wesleyan on Wednesday. 

[RogK]

An important win for North Park, as they have 4th place to themselves. At 2-6, Augie probably needs to go 5-1 the rest of the way.
Carthage topped Millikin 66-44 and are now 8-0. Stephanie Kuzmanic had another very sharp performance with 21 pts and 6 assists. Three other Lady Reds tallied double figures (Kristi Schmidt, Cailee Corcoran, Michelle Wenzel). For the Big Blue, Bria Williams had 11 pts and 6 rebs, while Nikki Tipsword had 14 pts.

[RogK]

Congratulations to Brooke Olson for being CCIW player of the week (again!).
I saw most of her fine performance in the lopsided win over North Central. I ducked out a few minutes early in order to catch the 6:57 eastbound Metra, rather than get the 8:57.
Backseat Driver wrote a good summary of that game. To add to the compliments for Hannah Considine : her 33 pts, 9 rebs, 5 assists (and just 1 TO) were accomplished in 21:00. That's not to diminish what Brooke did in 37:00, because being able to play as hard and effectively as Brooke does for 37:00 in a fast-paced high-possession game is an outstanding achievement. She does not wear out easily, if at all.
The seven assists from Maris Hovee (Wheaton's post player) were quite helpful to the Thunder cause as well.
North Central has done well in a number of games, but they haven't been able to do much against the Thunder.
By the way, the other Chicago area "System" team, NAIA Olivet Nazarene, missed 65 threes Saturday and they won by 56. How's that for a strange stat combination? They did get 34 O-rebs, 33 steals and made 18 threes. OOPS --- correction : made 16, not 18.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Confoundingly, Carthage continued to steamroll everyone in a well-above-average conference, and actually LOST 5 points (37 to 32) and one slot (28th to 29th).  Wheaton was again shut out.

It's as though the 2 national titles in the last 8 years never happened.

[Roundball999]

Massey, with its purely statistical approach, has them at #25.  I suspect the three non-conference losses to teams that are outside of the top 30 in both the polls and Massey are dragging them down.  The past doesn't count for much, especially since CCIW is down a bit based on non-conference record (though still above average I agree).

[gordonmann]

Carthage has 32 points in the poll and 15 of them come from me. I have the Lady Reds ranked No. 11.

My take is that Carthage is a well rounded team that's rolling through a very good conference.  In my opinion, the No. 1 team in the CCIW is very likely one of the Top 25 teams in the country, regardless of record.  I heavily discount losses before Christmas at this point in the season.
 
I have the same perspective on the WIAC.  I have UW-Stevens Point No. 10, UW-Whitewater at No. 18 and UW-Oshkosh at No. 19, all higher than where they fall in the rankings.

To me, there are four conferences whose top team should almost always be in Top 25-- CCIW, NESCAC, UAA and WIAC.  The NJAC, NWC and OAC are the next tier where the top team is usually in my rankings, regardless of who it is.  Conferences like the MIAA and MAC Commonwealth usually have their top team on my ballot but that's more the reflection of excellent individual programs than the conference's overall strength.

[Gregory Sager]

"Steamroll" is the right word for it. Aside from their three-point win over NPU, the Lady Reds have beaten every team in the league by at least 11 points. Carthage is +174 in points scored in CCIW play this season, which averages out to almost a 22-point victory margin per CCIW game. (And that number is not skewed by North Central's adoption of the Grinnell System style of play, because Carthage's 11-point win over NCC is the second-smallest margin of victory that the Lady Reds have managed in CCIW play thus far.)

[Mr. Ypsi]

Carthage has 32 points in the poll and 15 of them come from me. I have the Lady Reds ranked No. 11.

My take is that Carthage is a well rounded team that's rolling through a very good conference.  In my opinion, the No. 1 team in the CCIW is very likely one of the Top 25 teams in the country, regardless of record.  I heavily discount losses before Christmas at this point in the season.
 
I have the same perspective on the WIAC.  I have UW-Stevens Point No. 10, UW-Whitewater at No. 18 and UW-Oshkosh at No. 19, all higher than where they fall in the rankings.

To me, there are four conferences whose top team should almost always be in Top 25-- CCIW, NESCAC, UAA and WIAC. The NJAC, NWC and OAC are the next tier where the top team is usually in my rankings, regardless of who it is.  Conferences like the MIAA and MAC Commonwealth usually have their top team on my ballot but that's more the reflection of excellent individual programs than the conference's overall strength.

Pleasantly surprised to hear CCIW placed in the (women's) elite.  In the men's, sure - for many, many years now.  I wouldn't have thought the women had risen to above 8-10, despite winning one quarter of the last eight titles (with two different teams).

Way to go, ladies!  Now if only more voters were like gordonmann!

[Backseat Driver]

Carthage has 32 points in the poll and 15 of them come from me. I have the Lady Reds ranked No. 11.

My take is that Carthage is a well rounded team that's rolling through a very good conference.  In my opinion, the No. 1 team in the CCIW is very likely one of the Top 25 teams in the country, regardless of record.  I heavily discount losses before Christmas at this point in the season.
 
I have the same perspective on the WIAC.  I have UW-Stevens Point No. 10, UW-Whitewater at No. 18 and UW-Oshkosh at No. 19, all higher than where they fall in the rankings.

To me, there are four conferences whose top team should almost always be in Top 25-- CCIW, NESCAC, UAA and WIAC. The NJAC, NWC and OAC are the next tier where the top team is usually in my rankings, regardless of who it is.  Conferences like the MIAA and MAC Commonwealth usually have their top team on my ballot but that's more the reflection of excellent individual programs than the conference's overall strength.

Pleasantly surprised to hear CCIW placed in the (women's) elite.  In the men's, sure - for many, many years now.  I wouldn't have thought the women had risen to above 8-10, despite winning one quarter of the last eight titles (with two different teams).

Way to go, ladies!  Now if only more voters were like gordonmann!

And it's not as though Carthage is an "unknown" program either. The Lady Reds have been in the Top 25 and have had success in the NCAA Tournament in the last few years.

[Gregory Sager]

As a matter of perspective, take a look at Westminster (MO). The Blue Jays sit alone atop the SLIAC standings with a 9-1 league record, two full games better than anybody else.

In three consecutive games in mid-December, the Blue Jays lost to Millikin by 11, Elmhurst by 7, and NPU by 19.

Benedictine, which is currently second in the NAthC South with an 8-4 league record, went 1-3 against the CCIW, dropping games to NPU (by 9), NCC (by 6), and Wheaton (by 26), while beating Elmhurst by a point in Lisle.

So the same disparity between the CCIW and some of the other local D3 leagues that exists on the men's side exists on the women's side, too.

[iwu70]

Big game for the Titans this week @ Shirk vs. NPU.  I think the game will be very competitive and close.  Titans can't afford to fall further behind Carthage, with limited games left in the chase, so the Titans need this one bigtime.  Seems the Titan squad has found a certain stability and pace now, with the key personnel remaining, everyone playing their role, so let's hope for a strong stretch run down to the CCIW tournament.  Time to get all the pieces, all the formats and sets all working at top level.  At this stage of the season, conditioning will really play a bigger and bigger part, especially for a team like IWU that uses the "run and jump" extensively. 

Katy Seibring really playing well, making a good case for All-CCIW status.

Go Titans!!! 

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, true, but women's b'ball doesn't seem to be that much of a midwestern sport (despite veritable roots in Iowa).  I recall when consistently 3-4 teams from Maine would be in the Top 25.  And I can't even imagine a time coming when (as Ralph has reported about Texas) women's games start outdrawing men's (though it recently happened with a Calvin/Hope matchup).

And CCIW being better than SLIAC or NathCon is a given; doesn't automatically translate to national respect.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, true, but women's b'ball doesn't seem to be that much of a midwestern sport (despite veritable roots in Iowa).  I recall when consistently 3-4 teams from Maine would be in the Top 25.  And I can't even imagine a time coming when (as Ralph has reported about Texas) women's games start outdrawing men's (though it recently happened with a Calvin/Hope matchup).

And CCIW being better than SLIAC or NathCon is a given; doesn't automatically translate to national respect.

Women's basketball is not a midwestern sport? Try telling that to Calvin or Hope, or to Wash U, where Nancy Fahey's teams have regularly drawn more players from the midwest than from anyplace else. And as for attendance, the IIAC drew the highest league average in D3 women's basketball last season (406 fans per game), the MIAA was third (380), the WIAC was fourth (370), the CCIW was seventh (321), and the HCAC was eighth (321). By comparison, Ralph's ASC was sixth, at 352. The UAA was ninth (321), and of the three UAA schools that outdrew the league average, Wash U was first (419) and Chicago was third (327).

There may not be as much of a top-heavy look to D3 women's basketball as there is in D3 men's basketball as far as midwestern prowess is concerned, but it does not appear to me that your assertion is valid.

I didn't say that being better than the SLIAC or the NAthC was proof that the CCIW deserved national respect, in and of itself. I said that it showed that the CCIW enjoyed the same gap between itself and the lower leagues in women's basketball that it has in men's basketball. In other words, it's an indicator, not a proof.