WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

At the half: IWU 48, NCC 34.

[iwu70]

IWU up over NCC by about 30 with 10:00 minutes remaining.  Katy Seibring another monster game.  I think she's getting close to first team All-CCIW. 

Titans breaking the "system" it would appear.  Where is Lexi Baltes?  Not in the lineup tonight -- injured or sick?  Looks like a fine game too from Taylor Reaber, Colleen McMahon too, tonight. 

Keep it rolling Titans.  Still alot of basketball to be played.  Now very likely 8-3 in conference.  Hope WC can pin a lost on CC.

IWU70

[Backseat Driver]

Wheaton 48
North Park 32

Wheaton
Breanna Bohlen- 16 points (4-7 threes)
Maria Panaggio and Maris Hovee each with 6 points, 9 rebounds

North Park
Shaina Yalda- 8 points

Yes, that is the final score. After two 20:00 halves. Pretty ugly game with a lot of missed shots and turnovers by both teams. Wheaton found it's offense a bit in the second half, and Breanna Bohlen continued her recent hot streak from behind the arc.

Can't complain about a road win at this time of the year. Wheaton heads to Decatur on Saturday.

Sarah Peterson of NPU left the game with an injury about midway through the 2nd half and didn't return. Hope she's ok. She's had a tough year on the injury front.

[Backseat Driver]

The first Central Region Rankings, just released this evening:

1. Cornell- 18-1 (region), 18-1 (overall)
2. Washington U- 16-2, 17-3
3. Carthage- 16-3, 18-3
4. UW-Superior- 17-3, 18-4
5. Monmouth- 16-3, 17-3
6. UW-Whitewater- 14-4, 16-5
7. UW-Stevens Point- 17-4, 18-4
8. Wisconsin Lutheran- 18-0, 19-2

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU 102, NCC 69.  Katy Seibring had 25 points and 11 rebounds; Taylor Reaber with 17 and 15.

Again, The System is a mixed bag: it will win you some games; it will also get you blown out.  Since NCC has been terrible in the past, I guess the jury is still out on whether it is a plus.

[thunder38]

Looks like we may have missed the mark with Wheaton's spot in the big picture after all. Starting to look like Wheaton will need to beat Carthage next Saturday and probably again in the CCIW tournament in order to make the dance.

[iwu70]

Yes, seems we really missed the mark with WC's place in the regional rankings.  So, both WC and IWU need to win the CCIW AQ to get dancing.

IWU beat NC soundly tonight -- I think it was 102-69.  Some big stat lines due to NC's system.  Taylor Reaber had her best game as a Titan with 17 points and 15 boards.  Katy Seibring continued her torrid pace on offense with 25 and 10. 

Hope the Titans can keep it rolling and give CC a real run for their money in the upcoming game in Kenosha. 

Any word on the status of Lexi Baltes?

IWU70

[iwu70]

Not everyday you see IWU go 0-10 from treyland and win handily. 

Should be a good re-match up in Kenosha.

IWU70

[RogK]

Stephanie Kuzmanic had another wonderful game for Carthage, which improved to 11-0 with a 78-54 win over Elmhurst. She had 3 steals, 2 blocks, only 2 TOs, 9 assists, 13 rebounds and made 8/13 FGs including a 3, 6 of 6 FTs for 23 pts.
Cailee Corcoran (8/11, 2/2 FT) added 18 pts and 3 steals.
Fiona McMahon returned to action for EC and sank a three among her 10 pts in 12:00.

[Backseat Driver]

Any word on the status of Lexi Baltes?

IWU70

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/iwu-women-score-win-at-north-central/article_e828e6ba-70df-11e2-bf99-0019bb2963f4.html

Playing without junior guard Lexi Baltes, who didn’t dress for the game after suffering a bad ankle sprain in practice on Monday, the Titans looked to the inside and received a stellar outing from post players Taylor Reaber and Katy Seibring.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU is absolutely floundering right now at the offensive end of the floor. In fact, that's the best adjective to describe NPU's shooting: Offensive, as in causing offense to one's sense of basketball aesthetics. For six straight halves now, the Vikings have failed to crack 40% from the floor. Last night they hit rock-bottom, shooting less than 20% for the game and scoring only 32 points, featuring what might be an all-time school record low of 13 points in the second half.

Wheaton played good defense on the Vikings, but NPU still had a plethora of open shots that the Vikings somehow conspired to miss. Kamauria Acree had four layups or putbacks that she couldn't get into the basket. Centers Nicole Kruckman and Becca Heimsath, neither of whom ever takes a shot from more than ten feet away from the basket, were a combined 2-10 from the field. Layups, putbacks, midrange jumpers, long-distance bombs -- you name it, the Vikings missed them.

I wouldn't even say that NPU played particularly good defense last night, either. A lot of Wheaton's 23 turnovers were unforced results of WC carelessness or of trying to do too much to make a simple play, as Wheaton was pretty desperate to get some offense, too, until Breanna Bohlen heated up from downtown in the second half. The Vikings looked pretty flat-footed defensively, and they failed to fight through screens and gave Wheaton more open three-point looks than it should've had. I remarked after the game to my color commentator that it appeared as though the Vikings were coming off of a collective case of the flu. You'd never know that it was a key late-season tilt on their home floor against their archrival. They just looked listless all night.

NPU is really up against it now. Writing off the season finale at Carthage as pretty much a foregone conclusion in terms of a loss, the Vikings absolutely have to have their two upcoming games, this Saturday at home against Elmhurst and a week from Saturday at North Central. There's no more margin for error for NPU.

[Gregory Sager]

Sarah Peterson of NPU left the game with an injury about midway through the 2nd half and didn't return. Hope she's ok. She's had a tough year on the injury front.

She landed right on the point of her bad knee after getting knocked in mid-air while going up for a rebound. She said after the game that it was pretty swollen.

[iwu70]

Sorry to hear about Lexi Baltes' injury.  Sure hope she's a fast healer.  Hard to face 11-0 CC without your starting PG.  Perhaps the Titans will use Melissa Gardner at the point?  The Titans have had their share of injuries and departures this year, causing some considerable damage to their prospects.  Mia Smith is going to have to recruit hard to get the Titans back to CCIW-championship levels for the coming few seasons.  Doesn't Olivia Lett have a few younger sisters playing for Pana now?   

Great to see so many Titans playing well -- McMahon, Bilek, Gardner and esp. Seibring.  Seibring is now leading the league in scoring during the CCIW portion.  Taylor Reaber had a superb game vs. NCC and the "system."  Hope Scurlock and Beoletto and others amongst the sophs and freshies, continue to improve and develop for future seasons.

IWU70

[RogK]

Colleen McMahon filled in well at point guard on Wednesday at NC. Melissa could do it, too, if needed. A lot of the Titans are good ballhandlers and passers. Michelle Bilek brought the ball up several times.
The CCIW is well-stocked with fine point guards this season and Lexi is in the top 3 or 4, I'd say.

[RogK]

In the 75-65 Millikin win over Augie, the Big Blue shot extremely well : 24/40 FGs and 24/26 FTs. Brittany Czaplicki made 5/7 FG and 10/10 FTs for 20 pts and she added 7 rebs and 5 steals. Teammate Bria Williams made 5/8 FG and 7/7 FT and grabbed 7 rebs.
Augie's Molly Etheridge scored 22 to go along with 5 rebs and 3 steals.
At 2-9, Augie trails NP and NC by 2 games, with 3 left. Millikin joins Elmhurst 1 game out of the 4th playoff slot.