WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

A new commissioner for the CCIW effective on Canada Day 2019 :
https://cciw.org/news/2018/12/4/general-cciw-selects-maureen-a-harty-to-serve-as-executive-director-beginning-in-2019-20.aspx

[Mr. Ypsi]

At the half in Elmhurst:  IWU 38, Elmhurst 31.

[iwu70]

Great all 'around team play by the Titans tonight

IWU 81 EC 61

Sosa 18 and 5
Merritt 17 and 4
Hughes 11 and 6
Shanks 11 and 4
Schneider 10
Anderson 8 and 4

Can't really beat that.

IWU now 7-2, 2-0.

Keep it rolling TITANS.

IWU '70

Warm greetings to all from the Far Side -- 68, cloudy, misty and humid, in Hong Kong today.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU won all four quarters, but the 3rd was where they broke it open - final over Elmhurst is 81-61.

Sosa led with 18, Merritt had 17, Hughes, Shanks, and Schneider had 11,11,and 10, respectively.  Hughes was perfect from the field (including from 3) and the line.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 80, Carthage 67

Hannah Frazier    29 pts, 9 rebs, 5 assts
Hannah Williams  13 pts
Jenn Berg     11 pts, 12 rebs
Jordan Myroth  11 pts, 6 rebs, 6 assts

Autumn Kalis   20 pts, 5 rebs, 7/13, 4-7 3FG
Sammie Woodward    17 pts, 6/13, 4-6 3FG
Bailey Gilbert, 8 pts, 4 rebs
Madie Kaelber, 7 pts 4 rebs 5 asst
Haley Ahr, 9 pts, 5 rebs

Game was closer than the score.  Wheaton scored the first 15 pts of the game when the Lady Reds just couldn't get anything to go.  The Thunder were up 16 at halftime. But in the 3Q, mean reversion took over and Carthage couldn't miss.  They continued to chip away and pulled within 55-50 going into the fourth.  Lady Reds tied it at 61-61 but then Wheaton got a little more aggressive, getting into the paint, and going to the free throw line to pull away.

Frazier with another huge game as her team mates got her touches on every possession down the stretch. And she delivered big.  She is very difficult to guard because she can go back to the basket or step out for a mid-range jumper or 3ptr. 

I give Carthage a ton of credit for coming all the way back the way they did.  They are a very good team and have played both league leaders with close games on the road.  They will be a very tough out at Tarble for both the Thunder and IWU.  Both Kalis and Woodward are deadly from the arc and are able to get themselves open to take them. 

Wheaton has to learn to defend better.  They are leading the country in blocked shots but only had 6 tonight.  But so many blocked shots kind of erases poor fundamental defense.  Same with rebounding.  Their height gives them an advantage where they don't have to work as hard on the boards.  But a good rebounding team will feast on them if they don't correct it.  Still a win and an important one.

[RogK]

Just got mentioned on a Chicago newscast that a bus carrying Normal West girls basketball players was involved in an accident --- hoping all are well.
--
Peoria Journal Star web site reports an adult fatality.
-- additional update :
https://www.pjstar.com/news/20181205/two-adults-dead-in-normal-west-school-bus-crash-near-downs

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 79
Millikin 66

Jayla Johnson: 31 pts (13-17 FG), 6 blks, 3 stls
Angelina Villasin: 13 pts, 6:3 a:to, 3 stls
Zakiya Newsome: 7:1 a:to
Jackie Rapp: 6 rebs
Sinead Molloy: 3 stls

Yanni Saddler: 18 pts, 4 stls
Aubrey Staton: 14 pts, 6 rebs
Brianna Anthony: 14 pts
Faith Smith: 7 rebs

NPU freshman forward Jayla Johnson obviously had a tremendous game tonight, but she had a lot of help, as Angelina Villasin and Zakiya Newsome did a terrific job of penetrating and drawing off potential help defense before giving Johnson the ball down low and letting her do her thing -- which she did with aplomb. She made plenty of easy layups, but quite a few where she was stretching to get full extension or under moves where she went high off the glass.

It was a game that had some big runs, with the Vikings jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead in the opening minutes via their press, and then Millikin counter-punching with a 13-3 run of its own to take the lead late in the first quarter. But the second quarter was a seesaw affair, ending with MU prevailing on a late rush to take a 36-33 lead into the locker room. The Big Blue consolidated that lead in the third quarter, building it up to as many as nine at 52-43 with 4:44 to go in the stanza, as Yanni Sadler took over the game. But then she started to run out of gas, NPU started looking in to Johnson more, and Angelina Villasin got to the rim and finished a few times, and the Vikings retook the lead with a 13-2 run that closed out the quarter. Once the final stanza got underway, the Vikings put the pedal to the metal and the Big Blue faded.

It was a solid win for NPU, in which the Vikings got the bad taste of Saturday's debacle out of their mouths. They now carry some momentum into their extended road string, as they won't see the cinderblock confines of the crackerbox again until the new year.

It was really weird seeing Millikin with no Lori Kerans on the sideline tonight. That takes some getting used to.

[lmitzel]

North Central bounced back from its tough loss to Millikin on Saturday and knocked off Augie in Rock Island 69-58. Tyonne Howard had a nice game, going 8-14 from the field and 5-9 at the line for 21 points to go with four boards and five assists, Hannah Vitkus put up 10 points and 11 boards, while Alanna Newsome added 15 points and Lyndsay Brennan 14. Alexis Jones had 17 and 9 to pace the Vikings, with Izzy Anderson adding 12 and 8.

The big stat that sticks out to me: Augie was 2-15 from beyond the arc. I'd like to see North Central do a little better at the line (13-22, 59.1%), but it was nice to see them control much of this game and put it away. Hopefully this is the start of Maggie McCloskey-Bax's prediction on Saturday of "We're young; we'll get there" start to come to fruition.

[RogK]

Carroll lost to UW Platteville, 73-66. Carroll got 15 pts from Kayla Stefka (.700 eFG%), 11 pts from Alyssa Cruz, 9 pts 10 rebs from Katie Rossetti.

[GoPerry]

Here's my ballot for this week

1 St. Thomas (Minn.)
2 Thomas More   
3 Bowdoin   
4 Hope
5 Chicago
6 George Fox   
7 Amherst
8 Scranton
9 Tufts   
10 Ill. Wesleyan   
11 Wis.-Whitewater
12 Messiah
13 DePauw
14 Trine   
15 Mary Hardin-Baylor   
16 East Tex. Baptist   
17 Rochester Inst.   
18 Wheaton (Ill.)   
19 Saint Joseph's (Me.)
20 Chris. Newport   
21 Geneseo
22 Baldwin Wallace   
23 Austin   
24 Texas-Dallas   
25 Mass.-Dartmouth

Illinois Wesleyan didn't move, nor did the rest of my Top 10. That'll change next week since Thomas More rolled over Chicago. The Maroons outscored the Saints 27-9 from three at home and still lost by double digits. Thomas More looks like the best team in the country right now and Temple the best player.

I'm not too different from the Top 25 overall. I have Rochester Tech, Austin and Mass-Dartmouth instead of Wartburg, Gettysburg and Wartburg. The two 'burgs are just outside my Top 25. I usually have a list of 5 teams that I review each week to see if they have a better resume than the others.

It's a little weird that Austin dropped out of the poll and didn't take Texas-Dallas with them. Other teams (Randolph-Macon and Marymount) seem to be appropriately linked.

Mass-Dartmouth doesn't really have much of a resume, but I'm just playing a hunch here that they'll give Bowdoin a good game. That conference looks pretty good this year, including East Conn which beat Amherst.

You were right about Mass-Dartmouth, Gordon.  Played Bowdoin tough.  Does that say anything about Bowdoin who has yet to play anybody except MD?

I like your top 10.  Considering who TMore has played, and defeated – some handily, I would hope some voters might start moving them up even higher.  You're already at #2 but could some voters actually have them as low as #6, #7?  Are you considering flipping them with UST?  Haven't seen the Tommies play so no comment on them.

Wartburg probably moving up.

Wheaton hosting Oshkosh (#25 D3Hoops, no mention in GM ballot) tomorrow – should be a good one.  Hope the Thunder can honor your (lone) confidence.

[Roundball999]

Here's my ballot for this week

1 St. Thomas (Minn.)
2 Thomas More   
3 Bowdoin   
4 Hope
5 Chicago
6 George Fox   
7 Amherst
8 Scranton
9 Tufts   
10 Ill. Wesleyan   
11 Wis.-Whitewater
12 Messiah
13 DePauw
14 Trine   
15 Mary Hardin-Baylor   
16 East Tex. Baptist   
17 Rochester Inst.   
18 Wheaton (Ill.)   
19 Saint Joseph's (Me.)
20 Chris. Newport   
21 Geneseo
22 Baldwin Wallace   
23 Austin   
24 Texas-Dallas   
25 Mass.-Dartmouth

Illinois Wesleyan didn't move, nor did the rest of my Top 10. That'll change next week since Thomas More rolled over Chicago. The Maroons outscored the Saints 27-9 from three at home and still lost by double digits. Thomas More looks like the best team in the country right now and Temple the best player.

I'm not too different from the Top 25 overall. I have Rochester Tech, Austin and Mass-Dartmouth instead of Wartburg, Gettysburg and Wartburg. The two 'burgs are just outside my Top 25. I usually have a list of 5 teams that I review each week to see if they have a better resume than the others.

It's a little weird that Austin dropped out of the poll and didn't take Texas-Dallas with them. Other teams (Randolph-Macon and Marymount) seem to be appropriately linked.

Mass-Dartmouth doesn't really have much of a resume, but I'm just playing a hunch here that they'll give Bowdoin a good game. That conference looks pretty good this year, including East Conn which beat Amherst.

You were right about Mass-Dartmouth, Gordon.  Played Bowdoin tough.  Does that say anything about Bowdoin who has yet to play anybody except MD?

I like your top 10.  Considering who TMore has played, and defeated – some handily, I would hope some voters might start moving them up even higher.  You’re already at #2 but could some voters actually have them as low as #6, #7?  Are you considering flipping them with UST?  Haven’t seen the Tommies play so no comment on them.

Wartburg probably moving up.

Wheaton hosting Oshkosh (#25 D3Hoops, no mention in GM ballot) tomorrow – should be a good one.  Hope the Thunder can honor your (lone) confidence.

Barring upsets, Thomas More likely playing Hope in the final of Hope's Post Exam Jam tournament next weekend.  #22 Baldwin-Wallace also in the field.  Should be a great barometer for ranked teams AND a great game to watch!

[Gregory Sager]

Carrll edged visiting Millikin, 70-67, in Van Male for its first CCIW win. Alyssa Cruz led a quartet of Pioneers in double figures with 14 points, while Celina Schwantes pulled down ten boards. The Big Blue likewise had four double-figure scorers, led by Aubrey Staton's 22, while Faith Smith led all rebounders with 15.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In the first quarter it looked like a total blowout in Rock Island, as the Titans led 24-10.  But the Vikings handily won the 2nd Q, and trail only 40-34 at the half.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Titans won the 3rd by 2; Vikings won the 4th by 1.  Final from Rock Island, Titans 83, Vikings 76.

[Gregory Sager]

Overtime final from the airplane hangar:

North Park 83
North Central 82

Lauryn Alba Garner: 17 pts, 4 stls
Matti Zander: 14 pts, 8 rebs
Sinead Molloy: 13 pts, 8 rebs, 4 stls
Kayla Patterson: 10 pts

Natali Dimitrova: 26 pts, 10 rebs
Tyonne Howard: 17 pts, 6 rebs, 7:6 a:to
Alanna Newsome: 11 pts
Lyndsay Brennan: 9 rebs

NPU gutted out a nail-biter win tonight when NCC's Tyonne Howard front-rimmed a lunging trey attempt at the buzzer, following a split pair of free throws by North Park freshman guard Kayla Patterson. Honestly, it never should've gone to overtime in the first place, as the Vikings, who led for over three-quarters of the game, once again were horrific at the free throw line -- although their 60% performance (24-40) actually topped the 55% that they were shooting from the charity stripe coming in. North Central, on the other hand, was very solid from the line (29-37, 78%), and that, coupled with an outstanding performance by center Natali Dimitrova, kept the persistent Cards close in a contest in which the Vikings were never able to pull away, despite leading by as many as nine in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings bigs were no-shows tonight, as Jayla Johnson fouled out in overtime without really impacting the game at all, but NPU got a very strong performance off of the bench from freshman forward Matti Zander -- easily her best game yet -- to help make up for it. The two stars of the night, though, were sophomore guards Lauryn Alba Garner, who made one tough shot after another driving to the hole, and Sinead Molloy, who did a little bit of everything for the Vikes in the winning effort.

It wasn't pretty, but any road win in this league is a good one. The Vikings will take it ... although they know as they get back on the bus that, as has been the case for the past couple of weeks, Amanda Crockett is going to make them shoot free throws in practice until their arms fall off.