WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

I saw quite a good contest today, as host U of Chicago got past Carthage 96-90 in 2 OT.
Both teams gave exemplary effort throughout, with much basketball skill to see. In the opening 46-46 half, the combined three-point shooting was 16/30.
Shooting cooled thereafter, but there was still great hustle and fine play. Chicago had just a little more remaining in the gas tank by the 2nd OT.
The Lady Reds' Madie Kaelber topped all with 33 pts, while teammate Morgan Harris had 16 pts, 10 rebs and 6 assists.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Long time listener, first time caller.

IWU is going to need a lot better play out of McGraw this year if they want to make a serious run in her/Ehresman's last seasons. They need to work on getting more shots for other players on that roster when McGraw isn't feeling it. McGraw shooting 13-of-55 over their last four contests. Very good player when she's feeling it though and obviously her athleticism is invaluable. Ehresman has really been putting the team on her back it seems leading the team in assists, rebounds, and steals. A very underrated player outside of the CCIW.

+K as a first-time 'caller'.

Agree with you, but an odd day to put that out there.  Molly was not good today (3-11) but did get 10 points; Rebekah, on the other hand, was (by her standards) absolutely terrible today: 2 for 10, 4 points.  RHIT is by no means a cupcake (47-8 over the last two seasons; ORV in the preseason poll), but no one played well enough today to win against really top-flight competition.

[titanalum94]

Long time listener, first time caller.

IWU is going to need a lot better play out of McGraw this year if they want to make a serious run in her/Ehresman's last seasons. They need to work on getting more shots for other players on that roster when McGraw isn't feeling it. McGraw shooting 13-of-55 over their last four contests. Very good player when she's feeling it though and obviously her athleticism is invaluable. Ehresman has really been putting the team on her back it seems leading the team in assists, rebounds, and steals. A very underrated player outside of the CCIW.

+K as a first-time 'caller'.

Agree with you, but an odd day to put that out there.  Molly was not good today (3-11) but did get 10 points; Rebekah, on the other hand, was (by her standards) absolutely terrible today: 2 for 10, 4 points.  RHIT is by no means a cupcake (47-8 over the last two seasons; ORV in the preseason poll), but no one played well enough today to win against really top-flight competition.

Hopefully it's just early season struggles for the two of them, both seem to be finding their shot still. On a positive note, Merritt and Schneider are playing well in the post alongside freshman Raven Hughes who has been quick to adjust to the college game. Kelsey Walsberg also a solid performer so far after not playing much last season.

[RogK]

the other CCIW scores :
St Norbert 78, Carroll 46.
Elmhurst 88, Illinois Coll. 68 -- very nice game by Kaela Jones : 4 steals, 5 blocks, 6 assists, 8 rebs, 19 pts.

[Enginerd]

Long time listener, first time caller.

IWU is going to need a lot better play out of McGraw this year if they want to make a serious run in her/Ehresman's last seasons. They need to work on getting more shots for other players on that roster when McGraw isn't feeling it. McGraw shooting 13-of-55 over their last four contests. Very good player when she's feeling it though and obviously her athleticism is invaluable. Ehresman has really been putting the team on her back it seems leading the team in assists, rebounds, and steals. A very underrated player outside of the CCIW.

+K as a first-time 'caller'.

Agree with you, but an odd day to put that out there.  Molly was not good today (3-11) but did get 10 points; Rebekah, on the other hand, was (by her standards) absolutely terrible today: 2 for 10, 4 points.  RHIT is by no means a cupcake (47-8 over the last two seasons; ORV in the preseason poll), but no one played well enough today to win against really top-flight competition.

I do not disagree with any of the above necessarily - but I WOULD like to point out that the out-of-character stats for the IWU players had a great deal to do with RHIT's defense. It was no accident that WashU gave up 89 to IWU and Rose just 60. RHIT's defense is just about as elite as it gets in D-III women's basketball. If you glace at last year's scoring defense stats, you will see that the only two teams that finished ahead of Rose were Tufts and Amherst - who just happened to play one another for the national championship. Rose cannot recruit the same kind of kids that the other three schools in the event rely on (with the exception of the occasional engineering kid that shows up on WashU's roster) and relies a great deal on tough, hard-nosed kids who can absorb and carry out a game plan on defense - instead of just outscoring people.
That ugly game yesterday, statistically-speaking, is no outlier. RHIT held two conference opponents last season to FOUR points in the first half - and in both instances held each team scoreless in one of the first two quarters - with one of the teams facing the very real possibility of going scoreless in the first half - something which has never happened in college basketball, as far as I know. That's really hard to do-even if you are playing a middle school team. Rose lost by three to Wheaton in the NCAA's with two starters so injured from the HCAC tournament they could barely play, had a three point lead over Eastern Illinois at halftime before running out of gas with only three weeks worth of conditioning - and lost to Hope, Depauw, and IWU by a combined 11 points - so hopefully we have not heard the last of the Fightin' Engineers.

[RogK]

Congrats to the new CCIW Player of the Week, Madie Kaelber.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Long time listener, first time caller.

IWU is going to need a lot better play out of McGraw this year if they want to make a serious run in her/Ehresman's last seasons. They need to work on getting more shots for other players on that roster when McGraw isn't feeling it. McGraw shooting 13-of-55 over their last four contests. Very good player when she's feeling it though and obviously her athleticism is invaluable. Ehresman has really been putting the team on her back it seems leading the team in assists, rebounds, and steals. A very underrated player outside of the CCIW.

+K as a first-time 'caller'.

Agree with you, but an odd day to put that out there.  Molly was not good today (3-11) but did get 10 points; Rebekah, on the other hand, was (by her standards) absolutely terrible today: 2 for 10, 4 points.  RHIT is by no means a cupcake (47-8 over the last two seasons; ORV in the preseason poll), but no one played well enough today to win against really top-flight competition.

I do not disagree with any of the above necessarily - but I WOULD like to point out that the out-of-character stats for the IWU players had a great deal to do with RHIT's defense. It was no accident that WashU gave up 89 to IWU and Rose just 60. RHIT's defense is just about as elite as it gets in D-III women's basketball. If you glace at last year's scoring defense stats, you will see that the only two teams that finished ahead of Rose were Tufts and Amherst - who just happened to play one another for the national championship. Rose cannot recruit the same kind of kids that the other three schools in the event rely on (with the exception of the occasional engineering kid that shows up on WashU's roster) and relies a great deal on tough, hard-nosed kids who can absorb and carry out a game plan on defense - instead of just outscoring people.
That ugly game yesterday, statistically-speaking, is no outlier. RHIT held two conference opponents last season to FOUR points in the first half - and in both instances held each team scoreless in one of the first two quarters - with one of the teams facing the very real possibility of going scoreless in the first half - something which has never happened in college basketball, as far as I know. That's really hard to do-even if you are playing a middle school team. Rose lost by three to Wheaton in the NCAA's with two starters so injured from the HCAC tournament they could barely play, had a three point lead over Eastern Illinois at halftime before running out of gas with only three weeks worth of conditioning - and lost to Hope, Depauw, and IWU by a combined 11 points - so hopefully we have not heard the last of the Fightin' Engineers.

Thanks for your input, though it didn't totally square with what I saw on the stream.  I'll take your word that RHIT has a really good defense, but I also saw IWU missing wide-open 'bunnies', and committing totally unforced turnovers.  PERHAPS that was anticipation errors due to great defense, but (not having seen RHIT before) it just looked like an unexpected sloppy game to me.

BTW, alas WashU did not yield 89 points to IWU - THEY had 89 to our 81.

[RogK]

Millikin improves to 3-1 via this evening's 82-73 victory over Eureka.
Devin Curry scored 24 and Yanni Saddler tallied 21.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton comes in ranked #24 which is pretty much where they hung out all last year.  However ORV for IWU, Carthage, Park and a little surprised Augie didn't make a ballot.  It's only 2 weeks into the season, but I'm sensing that the conference is deeper and will be very competitive this year.   I'm not convinced that there's a dominant team (or even two) with a gap to the field like it has been the last couple seasons.  I think IWU still has to be considered the front runner even with 2 losses to ranked teams and all road games.  These teams plus Millikin and EC have all played strong schedules so far(NCC and Carroll are the only winless teams).  Must win at home because every road win will be well earned and I think 12-4 could host the conf tourney.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm somewhat taken aback by the early prowess of the league, because -- let's be honest here -- women's basketball has never been the CCIW's forte in terms of top-to-bottom strength as compared to some of the league's other sponsored sports. Even in seasons in which there's been a couple of nationally-regarded CCIW teams and a couple of other solid entries, the bottom of the league has tended to be really weak. But, outside of NCC (a team which I suspect will improve once the Cards adjust to the wrenching change of de-Systematizing themselves) and Carroll (which is still in rebuild mode), it does appear that there's strong depth to the league this season. That's great to see, because it not only makes the league more fun to watch and to follow as a whole, but it also means that women's basketball is holding its own in a league that prides itself on national competitiveness across the gamut of sports it sponsors.

I'm of course particularly pleased (and a bit surprised) to see North Park garner some poll votes. Granted, it's early, and nobody ought to put much stock in the Week One poll. But beating fellow ORV Bluffton (which owns a win over preseason #7 Ohio Northern) and playing Wartburg (now #4) right down to the wire apparently counted enough in the eyes of some of the pollsters for them to put NPU on their ballots. Early poll or not, this could be a real confidence-builder for the Vikings as they head into the first couple of nights of CCIW play.

I've also seen Elmhurst play twice now, and I can vouch that the Bluejays are really solid, too. Everyone knows about Mikaela Eppard, of course, but Kaela Jones and Lisa Logan are both serious weapons for the 'jays as well. They will make their presence known in the CCIW this season.

[RogK]

Carroll topped Edgewood 70-57.
A very good game for the Pioneers' Katie Rossetti : 20 pts, 13 rebs, 3 blocks and 5 steals.
Delaney Sjong grabbed 12 rebs and Brittney Wald had 14 pts. Emily Majerus did well, with 11 pts and a pair of steals.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Was both surprised and disappointed to see IWU fall out of the Top 25.  True, they lost two games, but both were either away or neutral court games to teams ranked above them (they were EXPECTED to lose, according to the poll, and both games were close); they also won an away game against Chicago (ranked above them) by 21 points!  Personally, I would have RAISED them a slot or two.  Oh, well; way to early to worry too much about rankings!

[RogK]

The pre-season poll was merely a forecast based on zero games played and means nothing now.
On the morning of November 15, every team in D3 was 0-0, side-by-side at the starting gate.
No team deserved a head start in the 2017-18 rankings based on what they did last season or in the more distant past. Each team has to prove what they can do this season.
The current (Week 1) poll is the first one based on actual performance in '17-'18. As we are very early in the season, there should be volatility in the upcoming rankings as we learn more about each team. IWU and all other teams have many remaining opportunities to advance in the rankings, based on wins, not scheduling.
If we should raise a team's ranking based on losing to superior opponents, then let's give the World Series trophy to the Dodgers.

[Enginerd]

Long time listener, first time caller.

IWU is going to need a lot better play out of McGraw this year if they want to make a serious run in her/Ehresman's last seasons. They need to work on getting more shots for other players on that roster when McGraw isn't feeling it. McGraw shooting 13-of-55 over their last four contests. Very good player when she's feeling it though and obviously her athleticism is invaluable. Ehresman has really been putting the team on her back it seems leading the team in assists, rebounds, and steals. A very underrated player outside of the CCIW.

+K as a first-time 'caller'.

Agree with you, but an odd day to put that out there.  Molly was not good today (3-11) but did get 10 points; Rebekah, on the other hand, was (by her standards) absolutely terrible today: 2 for 10, 4 points.  RHIT is by no means a cupcake (47-8 over the last two seasons; ORV in the preseason poll), but no one played well enough today to win against really top-flight competition.

I do not disagree with any of the above necessarily - but I WOULD like to point out that the out-of-character stats for the IWU players had a great deal to do with RHIT's defense. It was no accident that WashU gave up 89 to IWU and Rose just 60. RHIT's defense is just about as elite as it gets in D-III women's basketball. If you glace at last year's scoring defense stats, you will see that the only two teams that finished ahead of Rose were Tufts and Amherst - who just happened to play one another for the national championship. Rose cannot recruit the same kind of kids that the other three schools in the event rely on (with the exception of the occasional engineering kid that shows up on WashU's roster) and relies a great deal on tough, hard-nosed kids who can absorb and carry out a game plan on defense - instead of just outscoring people.
That ugly game yesterday, statistically-speaking, is no outlier. RHIT held two conference opponents last season to FOUR points in the first half - and in both instances held each team scoreless in one of the first two quarters - with one of the teams facing the very real possibility of going scoreless in the first half - something which has never happened in college basketball, as far as I know. That's really hard to do-even if you are playing a middle school team. Rose lost by three to Wheaton in the NCAA's with two starters so injured from the HCAC tournament they could barely play, had a three point lead over Eastern Illinois at halftime before running out of gas with only three weeks worth of conditioning - and lost to Hope, Depauw, and IWU by a combined 11 points - so hopefully we have not heard the last of the Fightin' Engineers.

Thanks for your input, though it didn't totally square with what I saw on the stream.  I'll take your word that RHIT has a really good defense, but I also saw IWU missing wide-open 'bunnies', and committing totally unforced turnovers.  PERHAPS that was anticipation errors due to great defense, but (not having seen RHIT before) it just looked like an unexpected sloppy game to me.

BTW, alas WashU did not yield 89 points to IWU - THEY had 89 to our 81.

I didn't watch the game via stream-I was there and watched both of IWU's games last weekend-and living in Bloomington, I am very familiar with what they do. Rose-Hulman had a LOT to do with the final score. Ehresman is a great shooter, but really wants to score in transition and by getting it to the basket in the half-court and getting to the FT line - 18 of her 70 points have come from the FT line. She scored 8-10 points against WashU by literally dribbling down the court faster than WashU could back-pedal - and she got none of that against RHIT. She attacked the basket only to have her shot blocked (RHIT had NINE in the game) at least twice. As for McGraw (who is an utterly unique player and a lot of fun to watch), she is almost the opposite of Ehresman in that she relies almost exclusively on pull-up jumpers in transition and 2-3-dribble pull-up jumpers off cuts or away-screens-she's not looking to attack the basket quite like Ehresman. Rose chased her over the top of ball-screens and limited her looks via pull-up dribble. The one thing she counts on, using her considerable athleticism to rise up over defenders to shoot jumpers, was taken away and she even had a pull-up jumper blocked by a 5'7 RHIT player. The turnovers you say where IWU literally threw the ball away? Most of those were contested wing entry passes OR off ball-screens where the defenders took away their usual options.

You can look it up - the NCAA stats are available for anyone to access. Padding those stats by beating up on inferior conference competition you say, perhaps there's a BIT of truth in that, but I would also point out that RHIT was the first team to hold North Central's "System" to fewer than 50 points in a single game, in at least five seasons, without the benefit of being a conference team that sees them twice per year - I recall that IWU's defense gave up 113 and 86 points, respectively, to NC last year, including a loss. Both IWU and RHIT have featured virtually the same lineups the past three seasons, and RHIT held IWU to 46 points in a 70-46 beat-down two years ago-which is the only score in the history of this CCIW board that no one reported or commented on LoL...

IWU looked really tired after the 1st quarter, but still had enough left in the tank to force 31 turnovers-and deserved to escape with a win. This IWU team is not as talented as the 2010-13 teams, but they are EXTREMELY athletic and the way they play is built to make the opposing team frantic and speed them up - and I would not be shocked to see IWU use that to propel themselves to a very deep run in March...maybe even 3-4 games into the tournament...

[badgerwarhawk]

The pre-season poll was merely a forecast based on zero games played and means nothing now.
On the morning of November 15, every team in D3 was 0-0, side-by-side at the starting gate.
No team deserved a head start in the 2017-18 rankings based on what they did last season or in the more distant past. Each team has to prove what they can do this season.
The current (Week 1) poll is the first one based on actual performance in '17-'18. As we are very early in the season, there should be volatility in the upcoming rankings as we learn more about each team. IWU and all other teams have many remaining opportunities to advance in the rankings, based on wins, not scheduling.
If we should raise a team's ranking based on losing to superior opponents, then let's give the World Series trophy to the Dodgers.

This DODGERS GUY is ok with that.