WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Roundball999]

Well, and Millikin is 10-2, but 7-0 vs. SLIAC schools. That's a super-misleading record they have right now.

Good point, didn't realize that.  So the Wheaton game will really be telling....

[Gregory Sager]

Well, and Millikin is 10-2, but 7-0 vs. SLIAC schools. That's a super-misleading record they have right now.

It's not that misleading, Pat. Millikin is solid. Not Top 25 solid, but solid, nevertheless.

[Pat Coleman]

Well, and Millikin is 10-2, but 7-0 vs. SLIAC schools. That's a super-misleading record they have right now.

It's not that misleading, Pat. Millikin is solid. Not Top 25 solid, but solid, nevertheless.

Well, it's hard to tell based on who they've played and who they've beaten, so I would stand by calling it misleading.

[Gregory Sager]

Oh, I'm fine with the "misleading" part. It's the "super-" part with which we part company.

[AndOne]

New D3Hoops Top 25 pol out:

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/women/2014-15/week5

11-1 Wheaton moves up one from #14 to #13

12-0 North Central appears at #24

I'm not familiar with the history, but I'd guess this is the first time NCC has appeared in the Top 25 in many a moon, if ever. Congrats to the Lady Cardinals.

[robertgoulet]

New D3Hoops Top 25 pol out:

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/women/2014-15/week5

11-1 Wheaton moves up one from #14 to #13

12-0 North Central appears at #24

I'm not familiar with the history, but I'd guess this is the first time NCC has appeared in the Top 25 in many a moon, if ever. Congrats to the Lady Cardinals.

First time since 99.

[iwu70]

IWU goes down badly to WC.  Another very poor shooting night for the Titans.  First four game losing streak since 2001-2002.

Titans now at 6-7 for the season.

IWU70

[iwu70]

CC 69 IWU 62

The Titans are really having trouble finishing games.  They were up 10 in the second half but CC stormed back in the last 5-6 minutes to win this one.  A better shooting night for the Titans, but CC hit key treys in the run at the end and the Titans turned it over.  The Titans can't catch a break right now.

IWU70

[iwu70]

WC over NCC tonight, giving NC it's first loss of the season.  WC is for real.  Looks like the class of the CCIW field this year.

Titans had CC down, should have put them away, but just couldn't do it, yet again.  The sign of a young team, short on rebounding and game experience.  Hope the Titans can bounce back.  A five game losing streak is no fun.  Now 6-8 on the season.

IWU70

[iwu70]

New poll:

WC up to #12
NCC #24

At this point in the season, looks to me like IWU will struggle to make the CCIW tournament.  Looks like EC and CC, plus NCC and WC to me.  Still, lots of basketball to be played. 

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Greg, did the NPU women really beat Wheaton tonight -- or is there an error on the CCIW scoreboard?  Wow, that would be something, taking down #12.  If so, congrats to them.

IWU women go down again, 85-80 to Joycey Millikin.  Same old story -- leading by 10 or 12, then giving up the lead, shooting it poorly late, getting hugely outrebounded in the second half and giving up the lead.  This TITAN team has lots of talent, but just can't seem to stay the course, finish off games when they have the opponent down.

K. Reaber 24 and 9
G. Holness 22
M. McGraw 14

Titans now 6-9, 0-4.  A tough year.

Sure hope Mia is recruiting some size for the coming few seasons. 

IWU70

[iwu70]

Guess it's true.  NPU over #12 Wheaton in a big upset.  Looks like Wheaton couldn't buy a basket.  A bigger upset than CC or EC on the men's side, for sure.  Congrats to the NPU women.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 62
#12 Wheaton 48

Liz Rehberger: 18 pts (10-10 FT), 5 rebs
Soly Roman: 17 pts, 7 rebs
Nikki Przybyslawski: 11 pts
Rachel Torres: 5:3 a:to
Shaylee Sloan: 3:1 a:to

Katie McDaniels: 11 pts, 5:3 a:to
Hannah Considine: 5 rebs, 4 blks

In all three of NPU's prior CCIW games, the Vikings had built up a lead only to watch it vanish in the second half. And in all three of NPU's prior CCIW games, the Vikings couldn't come through at the end and lost a close contest (Millikin by 3, Carthage by 5, Augustana by 4).

Last night, the Vikings didn't allow that scenario to happen. They built up a big lead on Wheaton, went into the locker room up by 16, and built the lead to as much as 23 points in the late going, as the Vikings walked off the floor with a big victory.

The Park threw an effective mix of man and zone at Wheaton, and the visitors never really figured out how to attack either one properly. Wheaton was ice-cold in the first half -- 7-28 from the field, including 0-11 from downtown -- but equally important was that WC was almost exclusively taking nothing but jumpshots. The Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance rarely attacked the basket or put Hannah Considine down into the low post where she could do some damage. In fact, the ball rarely got below the foul line at all for Wheaton. NPU, by contrast, seldom settled for jumpers but instead attacked the basket, either by dribble-drive or via an effective high-low passing game by bigs Soly Roman and Nicole Kruckman. (Roman played a terrific game at both ends of the floor last night.) Since everyone in the gym knew that Wheaton wasn't going to keep missing treys all night, the unspoken question was: Could North Park finally maintain a second-half lead against a CCIW opponent?

Thanks to a relentless effort from Liz Rehberger and a nice spark off the bench from freshman forward Shaylee Sloan, the answer was "yes." By continuing to attack the basket, the Vikings piled up fouls on Wheaton defenders, all of whom (with the exception of Katie McDaniels) looked a half-step slow all night. When Considine fouled out with 7:10 to go and the two ensuing free throws by Nikki Przybyslawski made the score North Park 54, Wheaton 31, it was plain that Wheaton did not have a comeback in it. The visitors did shave nine points off of the NPU lead in the final three minutes, but the game was already in the bag at that point and WC coach Kent Madsen had emptied his bench.

Preseason All-American Ellie Zeller was practically invisible for Wheaton. She took a grand total of one shot -- a miss -- in the first half before sitting out the majority of the opening stanza with two fouls. She finished the night with 6 points, while sharpshooter Chantal Meacham, who came into the game shooting 41% from behind the arc, went 2-14 from downtown for the night.

This was just the confidence boost that the Vikings needed after those three tough losses. Now we'll see if they can continue to extricate themselves from the hole they're in.

[Gregory Sager]

Joycey Millikin

[iwu70]

Greg, thanks for the write-up on the WC-NPU game.  A great win for the NPU women.

'70