WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

Both Wheaton and IWU in pretty good shape.  Just need to take care of business, keep winning and stay ahead of WashU.  (The Bears and Chicago close out the season against each other).

[Mr. Ypsi]

At the half in B'town:  IWU 41, Millikin 27.

[Mr. Ypsi]

A 'no contest' at IWU: IWU 80, Millikin 54.  FIVE Titans in double digits.

[iwu70]

A good solid win for the TITANS tonight at The Shirk over MU 80-54.  IWU winning the TO battle 24-15 and the rebounding battle 38-26.  Much of the IWU scoring in close tonight, in the paint, esp. Merritt and Hughes.

IWU:
Merritt 20
Sosa 14
Hughes 13
Shanks 11

For MU:
Staton 15
Anthony 16
Saddler 9

IWU shoots 55%. 

Keep winning, keep building the resume for the last regional rankings.  I'm hoping for another IWU-WC game for the CCIW Tournament Championship and the AQ.

'70

[iwu70]

Also for IWU:
Sam Munroe 10

IWU moves to 18-4, 11-2.

WC beat Augie badly tonight so they maintain their spot on top the regular season league race standings. 

IWU Senior Night next up vs. EC on Saturday @The Shirk.

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

A good solid win for the TITANS tonight at The Shirk over MU 80-54.  IWU winning the TO battle 24-15 and the rebounding battle 38-26.  Much of the IWU scoring in close tonight, in the paint, esp. Merritt and Hughes.

IWU:
Merritt 20
Sosa 14
Hughes 13
Shanks 11

For MU:
Staton 15
Anthony 16
Saddler 9

IWU shoots 55%. 

Keep winning, keep building the resume for the last regional rankings.  I'm hoping for another IWU-WC game for the CCIW Tournament Championship and the AQ.

'70

It would take a fairly major upset for that scenario NOT to happen.  And I think both are fairly safe for making the post-season.

[lmitzel]

Fun random stat: Maggie McCloskey-Bax is undefeated at Tarble Arena in games involving North Central as the Cardinals topped the Lady Reds 60-58. Once again without Tyonne Howard (concussion from what I understand) and Alanna Newsome (knee- out for the year), they needed Lyndsay Brennan for all 40 minutes, and she responded with 11 points, while Allison Pearson led the team with 14, including the game winning free throws with two seconds left. Carthage got 21 from Sammie Woodward, 12 from Autumn Kalis, and 10 from Madie Kaelber.

This is NCC's first win at Carthage since 2006. I had probably just begun my PA career at Aurora Christian as a junior in high school when that happened.

[RogK]

Thanks for the injury info, lmitzel. Best wishes to Tyonne and Alanna for a return to top health. Both have done very well in their debut college seasons.
-
Wheaton 61, Augustana 39; Aug had 2 pts in the 1st Q.
The Thunder got 20 pts 10 rebs 4 blocks from ultra-reliable Hannah Frazier, 2 steals 3 assists 4 blocks 9 rebs from Devin Kyler, 10 pts 3 assists by Jordan Myroth. Kirsten Madsen provided a nice boost to the scoring, tallying 9 in 16:00.
The Vikings received 15 pts from Izzy Anderson and 11, 7 reb by Alexis Jones.

[RogK]

I saw Elmhurst's 71-62 win over Carroll, offsetting a 31 point outburst by Carroll's Sierra Grubor.
Elena Cabrera led EC with 16 pts (.700 eFG%) and 3 steals. Kween Jean (pronounced John, I think; maybe there's a hint of the French way to say Jean) helped via 12 pts 7 rebs. Marissa Urso added 13 pts. Lauren Goff and Kelly Weyhrich made key plays to preserve the win. Lisa Logan does not appear to be at 100% health-wise lately, but she was still able to contribute to the Jays' successful effort.
The Pioneers' Sierra Grubor tallied 21 of her 31 pts from 18 FG att (.583 eFG%) and made 10 of 12 FTs. Sierra Mist only 2 of 12 FTs.
Kayla Stefka scored 11. Celina Schwantes led all with 10 rebs.
I was interested to see Carroll's promising group of freshmen. Grubor is quite a versatile scorer, one you could easily imagine being the conference's leading scorer soon, depending on how much Coach Schultz relies on her for points.
Stefka seems to have a variety of helpful talents. Alyssa Cruz wasn't at her best Wednesday (turnovers : several passes were too clever!), but she has done quite well in many games; seems to have the abilities you'd want in a primary ball-handler. Theresa Wichser provides much-needed 3FG range (.385 accuracy - very good) but she must be currently injured. Schwantes is a good rebounder and helps in other aspects, as does Amanda Hooks. There is some good height in this group, along with agility. Others haven't played much, so I couldn't say much about them.
This is a rather good bunch of freshmen, although you can't assume any particular player on any team will continually improve. They have to work on it. Add in talented sophomores Katie Rossetti and Emily Majerus, it looks like Carroll could be pretty decent in upcoming seasons.

[lmitzel]

Kween Jean (pronounced John, I think; maybe there's a hint of the French way to say Jean)

From what I was told when Elmhurst came to Naperville, yeah, it's kind of the French way.

Here's the updated conference standings.

School	Record
z-Wheaton	13-1
z-IWU	11-2
x-Carthage	8-5
Augustana	6-8
Elmhurst	5-8
NCC	5-8
North Park	4-9
Millikin	4-9
Carroll	4-10

Wheaton just needs a win or Illinois Wesleyan loss to clinch the #1 seed in the CCIW Tournament, but both have locked up the bye. Carthage is the only other team to lock up a tournament berth, and really, looking things over it's pretty much a full six team race for those last three spots. NCC's win over Carthage is a huge tiebreaker advantage over everyone except Millikin and potentially Elmhurst (since they play again in Faganel on the 16th).

[Gregory Sager]

I saw Elmhurst's 71-62 win over Carroll, offsetting a 31 point outburst by Carroll's Sierra Grubor.
Elena Cabrera led EC with 16 pts (.700 eFG%) and 3 steals. Kween Jean (pronounced John, I think; maybe there's a hint of the French way to say Jean) helped via 12 pts 7 rebs. Marissa Urso added 13 pts. Lauren Goff and Kelly Weyhrich made key plays to preserve the win. Lisa Logan does not appear to be at 100% health-wise lately, but she was still able to contribute to the Jays' successful effort.
The Pioneers' Sierra Grubor tallied 21 of her 31 pts from 18 FG att (.583 eFG%) and made 10 of 12 FTs. Sierra Mist only 2 of 12 FTs.
Kayla Stefka scored 11. Celina Schwantes led all with 10 rebs.
I was interested to see Carroll's promising group of freshmen. Grubor is quite a versatile scorer, one you could easily imagine being the conference's leading scorer soon, depending on how much Coach Schultz relies on her for points.
Stefka seems to have a variety of helpful talents. Alyssa Cruz wasn't at her best Wednesday (turnovers : several passes were too clever!), but she has done quite well in many games; seems to have the abilities you'd want in a primary ball-handler. Theresa Wichser provides much-needed 3FG range (.385 accuracy - very good) but she must be currently injured. Schwantes is a good rebounder and helps in other aspects, as does Amanda Hooks. There is some good height in this group, along with agility. Others haven't played much, so I couldn't say much about them.
This is a rather good bunch of freshmen, although you can't assume any particular player on any team will continually improve. They have to work on it. Add in talented sophomores Katie Rossetti and Emily Majerus, it looks like Carroll could be pretty decent in upcoming seasons.

The untold story of this season in the CCIW (because nobody who follows Carroll posts here) is how good the Carroll underclassmen are. The entire team consists of freshmen and sophomores, and, as Rog says, there's a lot of potential there. Sure, that's not reflected in the team's won-lost record, but, aside from their loss to Wheaton two weeks ago, the Pioneers have been in every single game that they've played since the beginning of December. If Lindsay Schultz can keep her team together, and maybe add another piece or two, the Pioneers could break through and contend for the CCIW title within the next couple of seasons.

[iwu70]

Greg and RogK, agree with you fully about Carroll.  I was most impressed with them when they played IWU.  Lots of talent and future potential.

'70

[iwu70]

Congrats and good wishes to the four IWU Seniors on Senior Night at The Shirk.  Thank you for all your contributions to the IWU community and to the women's basketball program.  IWU fans have enjoyed watching you all play these past years.  Good luck with all future endeavors following graduation. 

Keep going -- more good and important basketball to be played this season.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Titans over EC 25-15 after 1 Q.  A good Senior night vibe.

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Titans up 49-31 at the half.  I've seen no reason to believe the game isn't already over.