WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Wild, and the reserves that scored 32 and 25 and went 15-18 from three!   Must be something in the water at Berea!   Or, it's just the fact that students there pay no tuition, work for their education and normally leave with little or no debt.  A truly unique box score and a truly unique institution. 

(Our President / Vice-Chancellor here at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof. Rocky TUAN, is a proud Berea graduate.  One of the key figures in Yale-China Association history, Dr. Francis Hutchins, was the long-time President of Berea.  Yes, I have to admit I'm still getting used to our University President with the name "Rocky"  -- LOL).

Alums at Berea all swear by the unique model of education and funding.   

'70

[iwu70]

RogK, perhaps the refs didn't show up and the ladies got to call fouls themselves!      Quite a score, and quite a performance by the Berea "reserves."

One has to wonder why certain games are played. 

'70

[lmitzel]

thanks iwu70
-
for those of you who think you've seen some weird stats, check this :
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/women/2018-19/boxscores/20190203_kxg9.xml?view=boxscore
The winning team was charged with 0 fouls, which was 2 fewer than the opponent.

RogK, perhaps the refs didn't show up and the ladies got to call fouls themselves!      Quite a score, and quite a performance by the Berea "reserves."

One has to wonder why certain games are played. 

'70

Wow. And I thought mine was untouchable. A few years back when North Central was still doing its Tip Off Tournament, we had to fill the men's field with a tiny Bible college from Arkansas called College of Faith. They apparently drove all through the night to get to Naperville for a 2:30 tipoff on a Friday... and had to go up against then #6 or so Hope, and proceeded to lose 118-20. The difference there was, at least Hope put in the end of its bench. Unless Berea had a ton of injuries, to only go eight deep (with a 12-woman roster) is kind of disgraceful.

That said... I'd love to work a game with only two fouls called over the course of it. We'd be done in a hair over an hour.

[Gregory Sager]

-
for those of you who think you've seen some weird stats, check this :
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/women/2018-19/boxscores/20190203_kxg9.xml?view=boxscore
The winning team was charged with 0 fouls, which was 2 fewer than the opponent.

The officials clearly wanted to get the game over with. Basketball games have a lot more than two fouls in them, even by accident.

Unfortunately, this sort of rout is still not a rare enough occurrence in college women's basketball. Competitive imbalances still remain significantly higher among women's teams than they do among men, leading to these kinds of lopsided scores. Wesleyan (GA) basketball is not held back by highly restrictive admissions standards or by a STEM academic profile that doesn't draw a lot of female applicants -- in fact, it's a women-only liberal arts college -- so I'm forced to conclude that the school apparently puts little or no stock in the need for athletic recruiting. Wesleyan's soccer and softball programs are pretty dismal, too, so it wouldn't surprise me if the coaches at Wesleyan are all part-timers who devote little or no time to recruiting. The athletic director, for example, is also the head softball coach. The members of the basketball team are obviously unskilled walk-ons who came out for the team for the exercise, travel, and cameraderie involved. It's a wonder that there's still so many of them; considering the beatdowns that they're handed every game (this loss to Berea is by no means the worst loss that the Wolves have suffered this season; f'rinstance, they lost to Huntingdon by a score of 142-23), it's amazing that there hasn't been players quitting left and right.

Add to Wesleyan's institutionally inherent ineptitude the fact that Berea (17-4) is pretty good (I know this because I've seen the Mountaineeers play twice at the crackerbox this season, including a 67-60 win over NPU), and the impossibility of avoiding scoring in basketball in a lopsided game such as this -- at least in football you can run a line dive on every play from scrimmage, and in soccer you can just play keepaway with the ball without ever shooting -- and this is the inevitable result.

thanks iwu70
-
for those of you who think you've seen some weird stats, check this :
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/women/2018-19/boxscores/20190203_kxg9.xml?view=boxscore
The winning team was charged with 0 fouls, which was 2 fewer than the opponent.

RogK, perhaps the refs didn't show up and the ladies got to call fouls themselves!      Quite a score, and quite a performance by the Berea "reserves."

One has to wonder why certain games are played. 

'70

Wow. And I thought mine was untouchable. A few years back when North Central was still doing its Tip Off Tournament, we had to fill the men's field with a tiny Bible college from Arkansas called College of Faith. They apparently drove all through the night to get to Naperville for a 2:30 tipoff on a Friday... and had to go up against then #6 or so Hope, and proceeded to lose 118-20. The difference there was, at least Hope put in the end of its bench. Unless Berea had a ton of injuries, to only go eight deep (with a 12-woman roster) is kind of disgraceful.

I doubt that Berea had twelve women present and suited. The Mountaineers only had ten players when they were at the crackerbox this season for the NPU Thanksgiving Invite. Macon, GA is a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Berea, and, since all Berea students are on what's tantamount to a mandatory work-study program, it's doubtful that all dozen Mountaineers were able to make that long trip.

As for wondering why the game was played, it was a league game. Both Berea and Wesleyan (GA) are members of the USA South Athletic Conference.

That said... I'd love to work a game with only two fouls called over the course of it. We'd be done in a hair over an hour.

This game would be a nightmare to call as a broadcaster. I'd rather call a Greenville vs. Grinnell men's game than a 122-17 "contest".

[RogK]

I wonder if those coaches and refs convened pre-game and decided that since it was going to be a mismatch, both sides would play in a gentle manner, and would the refs please not call any fouls. As Greg notes, some fouls will occur by accident (maybe at least a dozen in a normal game). This one had over 90 rebounds, so one would think there'd be some collisions, etc.
Hopefully the players of Wesleyan are finding enjoyment in various aspects of being NCAA basketball players, despite wins evading them so far.

[RogK]

Congrats to Hannah Frazier, earning another CCIW Player of the Week honor!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congrats to Hannah Frazier, earning another CCIW Player of the Week honor!

Not much suspense for the CCIW MOP awards this year, and both to Wheaton: Hannah Frazier and Aston Francis.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Ms. Frazier.  She and her team had a great week.

The home stretch, keep winning, build the resume for the post-season.

IWU'70

[gordonmann]

Speaking of Hannah Frazier...

https://www.d3hoops.com/top25/women/2018-19/week9

[GoPerry]

Thanks for the heads-up Gordon.  Wheaton Thunder ladies sneak back into the top 25 at #24.   Appreciate the recognition.  IWU drops to #18.

Bowdoin still #1 over #2 Thomas More despite the latter's more difficult, albeit odd, schedule.  I'm wondering if the geographic breakdown of the voters leans east (and maybe northeast)?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well, Gordon linked to the top 25, but I'll summarize anyway: IWU drops from 13 to 18; Wheaton rises from (27) to 24 (an entry into the top 25 that was long overdue, IMO).

I was all set to counter anyone who thought Wheaton should be ahead of IWU due to the sweep, by pointing to SoS.  IWU IS ahead of Wheaton in SoS, but not by nearly as much as I would have expected (IWU #17, .581; Wheaton #29, .572).  Having examined the schedules of both in great detail, I think this points to the flaws of the NCAA SoS: IWU's non-con schedule is MUCH tougher than Wheaton's.  I'm sympathetic to Wheaton fans' arguments that Wheaton should be ranked higher than IWU, but based on the TOTAL schedule's evidence, I can't buy it.

The same situation exists at the very top of the poll.  Bowdoin is #1, Thomas More is #2.  TMC DOES have an SoS advantage (#4, .615, vs. #7, .600), but a closer look at their schedules indicates a much greater differential - TMC played a MUCH tougher schedule (ALL on the road!).  IMO TMC is clearly the #1 team in D3.

[iwu70]

Glad to see WC in the top 25.  Well-deserved.  Now, both IWU and WC need to keep winning, polish their resumes for March.  I think one will likely win the CCIW tournament, the other getting an at-large bid.  Would be nice to see the TITANS finish the regular season at 21-4.  Perhaps we'll see a third IWU-WC game in the CCIW tournament.

WC has their re-match now with Augie . . . perhaps another loss?  I think not this time. 

'70

[GoPerry]

Well, Gordon linked to the top 25, but I'll summarize anyway: IWU drops from 13 to 18; Wheaton rises from (27) to 24 (an entry into the top 25 that was long overdue, IMO).

I was all set to counter anyone who thought Wheaton should be ahead of IWU due to the sweep, by pointing to SoS.  IWU IS ahead of Wheaton in SoS, but not by nearly as much as I would have expected (IWU #17, .581; Wheaton #29, .572).  Having examined the schedules of both in great detail, I think this points to the flaws of the NCAA SoS: IWU's non-con schedule is MUCH tougher than Wheaton's.  I'm sympathetic to Wheaton fans' arguments that Wheaton should be ranked higher than IWU, but based on the TOTAL schedule's evidence, I can't buy it.

The same situation exists at the very top of the poll.  Bowdoin is #1, Thomas More is #2.  TMC DOES have an SoS advantage (#4, .615, vs. #7, .600), but a closer look at their schedules indicates a much greater differential - TMC played a MUCH tougher schedule (ALL on the road!).  IMO TMC is clearly the #1 team in D3.

Ypsi: You've explained a solution that's searching for a problem because nobody's made an argument here that Wheaton should have been ranked higher than IWU.  With the previous week ranked #13 and ORV(27th) nothing I've observed of the poll this year suggests the voters would've moved either team up or down enough to flip.

With regard to SOS, I think your examination of the schedules "in great detail" need some slightly less green colored glasses in saying the IWU's non-con schedule is MUCH tougher.  If you look at their ranked non-con opponents:
IWU: 
           Vs Chicago (16-4) #17 D3Hoops rank
            Wartburg (18-3) #15 (neutral)
            DePauw    (18-4) #20 (neutral)
            Wash U  (15-5) ORV (neutral)
   
Wheaton:
            Vs Thomas More(24-0) #2
                @ Loras( 18-4) ORV
              @ Chicago (16-4) #17
              Vs Oshkosh (18-2) #11

Massey has IWU's schedule #6 and Wheaton's #7 – not really MUCH harder.  Including games remaining, Wheaton has a tougher total schedule which might imply their non-schedule is actually more difficult to Massey.  So making a ranking argument based on SOS ( and actually ignoring head to head, really?) is thinner than snakeskin and really just not there.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First women's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/women-regional-rankings-first

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton is third, Illinois Wesleyan is fourth, and Carthage is ninth.