WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

 

[Mr. Ypsi]

I understand the eye-roll - as though Mark would pick anyone else.  But this time he certainly has a point, since the Titans were picked to finish FIFTH.

But are the women like the men and don't even vote; just automatically give the award to the coach of the titlist?

[iwu70]

I'm sure the Wheaton coach is deserving of the honor this year too.  Both teams likely to finish 11-3, co-champs of the CCIW regular season.  Pretty amazing -- guess WC had injuries, TITANS surely well exceeded expectations, came back from a tough pre-CCIW race phase.  Tournament should be good -- hope the TITANS get another chance at WC for the finals and for the AQ to the D3 dance.  The way it looks now, likely at WC for the tournament.

IWU'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

I understand the eye-roll - as though Mark would pick anyone else.  But this time he certainly has a point, since the Titans were picked to finish FIFTH.

But are the women like the men and don't even vote; just automatically give the award to the coach of the titlist?

Apparently only in men's BB do they do the totally lame 'coach of the champs is automatically COY'. since Mia Smith was not COY in 2011 (when they won the title and finished third in the country).  I assume COY is voted by the coaches themselves?  Since they picked IWU for fifth, I have trouble imagining they would not vote for Mia as 'most exceeding expectations'.

[iwu70]

Coach Smith surely deserves it this year, IMHO.  But, WC Coach has also done a great job.  Ypsi, we'll see. 

Saturday all day was a great day to be a Titan @The Shirk -- JV beating the alums back, then women over NPU to solidify their place with WC at the top of the CCIW race, then the men beating NPU pretty easily, with a great unselfish and confident team effort, giving them a shot at the 4th spot in the CCIW tournament likely upcoming in Rock Island.  Nice recognition of the 1996 and 2006 Final Four men's teams at halftime. 

Yes, a dubious honor perhaps, getting the pleasure of playing #1 Augie on their home floor in the CCIW tournament semis.  When the treys are falling, IWU can beat anyone, but beating Augie up in RI is probably a step too far this year.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

That was a nice win on the road at Carthage, always a dangerous game for Wheaton men and women it seems.  And to do it in such dominant fashion - let's hope that portends peaking into form at the right time. 

They need to take care of business Saturday vs Augustana(and hopefully win Wed vs IIT also).  The Thunder is the only CCIW team that would be in a Pool C discussion and based on the 1st regional rankings-likely stuck behind at least 2 if not 3 WIAC teams, I'm uneasy about their at-large chances.  So they need to host the CCIW tournament to give themselves the best chance for the AQ.

[iwu70]

GoPerry, basically agree with you.  CCIW doesn't have strong Pool C prospects or credentials this year, even WC.  IWU must win the AQ to get in and they've struggled in both games vs. WC.  Tough road in the CCIW tourney, likely on the WC home court. IWU is very tough now, playing much better in the latter half, the CCIW league portion of the season.  They have to take care of business next Saturday, too, and finish up strong vs. EC on senior night -- honoring the lone senior on this young team, Samantha Elsworth.  Mia Smith has the nice prospect of all the others -- esp. McGraw, Ehresman and Merritt -- all coming back next year.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

GoPerry, basically agree with you.  CCIW doesn't have strong Pool C prospects or credentials this year, even WC.  IWU must win the AQ to get in and they've struggled in both games vs. WC.  Tough road in the CCIW tourney, likely on the WC home court. IWU is very tough now, playing much better in the latter half, the CCIW league portion of the season.  They have to take care of business next Saturday, too, and finish up strong vs. EC on senior night -- honoring the lone senior on this young team, Samantha Elsworth.  Mia Smith has the nice prospect of all the others -- esp. McGraw, Ehresman and Merritt -- all coming back next year.

IWU'70

Wheaton will graduate Hannah Considine(past and probable All Conf) along with Ellie Zeller(past All Conf) who has been out for the season anyhow.  Considine will be a loss but they've been playing lots of underclassmen this year so they won't lose much ground with McDaniels and Meachem returning.

The fact of the matter is that the whole league is young and replete with underclassmen seeing most of the playing time.  Several teams will have all their primary contributors returning and most teams lose only 1 or 2.  There will be very few seniors on the All CCIW team.  The Thunder and NPU look to lose the most but it won't be anything like the men's side (where you won't recognize Augie or Elmhurst next season).

[iwu70]

IWU has almost everyone coming back.  Ellsworth the only senior and she has been a rotational player this season, not a starter.  We'll see what Mia Smith adds in recruitment, but basically she'll be working with the same cast of characters next season as this.  Ehresman and McGraw will only get better and better, as will the current freshmen bigs (esp. Merritt), which IWU sorely needed for rebounding and interior defense, some post scoring.  IWU now needs to improve on shooting % and find some 3 point shooting threats, other than Holness.  Trey shooting this year was very very poor.  I bet a lot of improvements in fitness and strength will be developed over the summer period.  IWU could be very good the next two seasons. 

IWU'70

[RogK]

The only CCIW WBB game tonight has Wheaton hosting winless IIT.
Since IIT has moved from NAIA to no WBB to NCAA, I suppose that area D3 teams are expected to schedule games vs IIT, although they may not really want to.
Earlier, North Park beat IIT 92-24. Wheaton will likely do similarly.
IIT has been competitive against some opponents, but fell behind 36-0 to Webster, 36-0 to Grace Bible (Mich.) and 48-0 to Olivet College (Mich.).
IIT's average score has been 78-28, which can't be fun for them. Hopefully, they have retained a positive, enthusiastic outlook.
Approximately 11 or 12 years ago, IIT had a decent NAIA D1 WBB team. Unfortunately for them, a 5'10" forward who was an excellent 3FG shooter transferred to St Xavier.
When I saw that Carroll was rejoining the CCIW next season, I wondered if a 10th team would be added, but apparently neither IIT nor any others are imminent possibilities.
Update : Wheaton takes it, 90-10. I saw long segments of this one online and wondered why IIT didn't use timeouts, if only to let their players breathe a little.

[RogK]

North Park is 12-1 when opponents score in the 50s or less.
North Park is 3-7 when opponents score in the 60s or 70s.
North Park is 1-0 when allowing 108 pts.
Greg, please explain.

[Gregory Sager]

Three words: Reverse Bell curve.

[RogK]

Wait a minute, wasn't that a specialty pitch developed by Padres reliever Heath Bell in 2010?

[iwu70]

IWU needs to take care of business on Senior night, Saturday night vs. Elmhurst, honoring Samantha Ellsworth, and getting a share of the regular season CCIW crown, likely a tie with Wheaton. 

Thanks to Ms. Ellsworth for her dedication and long-term service to the IWU program -- a four year letter winner, one of the TITANS playing the most games in her career.  A true TITAN!  Good luck, Samantha, with all your future endeavors following graduation in May. 

IWU'70

[Titan Q]

IWU 75
Elmhurst 69

* Hollness: 19 pts, 3 reb
* Ehresman: 19 pts, 5 reb
* McGraw: 12 pts, 3 reb
* Merritt: 11 pts, 4 reb

IWU earns a share of the CCIW title with Wheaton.  Impressive conference showing by this very young IWU team.

The conference tournament will be hosted by Wheaton.