WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, I agree, from an Augie point of view, it shouldn't be happening.

Nope. From a just plain ol' watching-a-basketball-game point of view, it shouldn't be happening.

But that's basketball. Like I said, it's a game played by human beings, not by robots.

[iwu70]

You got it, "that's basketball." A truly amazing, exciting game on so many levels, in regulation, then in OT as well, so many incredible plays, outcomes.  It's a game and an ending that we'll always remember, that's for sure.

On IWU vs. WC, I think the Titans have to play tougher in the paint, keep Brovelli and Lowis out of foul trouble, and perhaps have Bowen and Eck play more, more defence, front WC's bigs, esp. when Berg is in the game.  Keep the rebounding battle pretty even, if not win it.  WC hard to pressure with Hannah Williams ball handling.  But, I'm sure the TITANS will try, to wear them down, and still force some TOs.  Hope the AC game didn't take too too much out of the Titans, esp. Shanks and Sosa.  Quick recovery required for the AQ game.  I'm sure Frazier will get hers, but the TITANS have to stop the other Wheaton players from doing too much damage.  Both Williams and Berg did a lot of damage in the last match-up at The Shirk.  Hope the TITANS get more from Munroe, Lansford, Brovelli and Eck in this game, offensively speaking.  And push the pace a bit more.  If you get just a grinder, half-court type of game, I think Wheaton wins again.  If the TITANS can push the pace a bit more, get out on the break, and score off of TOs, then I think they have a better chance.   Should be interesting.

Hard to beat a good team three times . . . or so Q says! 

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Greg, I agree, from an Augie point of view, it shouldn't be happening.  Crazy stupid foul to be sure.  But there you go, it is what it is, it is happening.  Lansford played smart and made the FTs.  Most championship runs involve great play -- which both teams surely demonstrated tonight -- but also some luck, which went the Titans way tonight.  Survive and move on.

'70

Exciting game, yes.  Great play - not really.  Notwithstanding that last very unwise foul, it was somewhat of miracle the Vikes were in it at all.  They committed 30 turnovers as they had all kinds of trouble with the IWU pressure defense.  Augie really needed a confident ball handler to dribble through the press but nobody really stepped up.

But the game was still close because the Titans were really awful from the field for the first 30 mins.  They finished shooting 39% for the game after finally getting some rhythm in the fourth and 21% (4/19) from three.  Sosa didn't even have a made field goal until a minute left in the 3rd.  But as All Conf players do, she started going to the hoop and drawing fouls (and Augie kept fouling her) finishing 14/17 from the free throw line.

In fact, Augie was lucky to get to OT.   I don't know why Coach Beinborn didn't call a timeout with 16 secs left in regulation with the ball and score tied.  They could have set up a play to get a good shot but instead ended up taking a pretty poor running half hook shot with 8 seconds left, way too much time on the clock.  This allowed Mia Smith to call timeout, set up a play, get Sosa a layup to lead by 2.  Only Jones' heroic shot sent the game to OT.

[GoPerry]

Yes - it's hard to beat a team three times.  Case in point - Elmhurst over NCC last night on the men's side.  So the Thunder ladies will have their work cut out for them tonight.  If they shoot and execute as well tonight as they did last night against North Central, they should be fine.  They've been playing really good team defense of late.

The key will be handling the Titan press which they have done quite easily in the first two contests.  In Williams, Madsen, Myroth, Demski, San Jule, they have seasoned ball handlers who can dribble through or pass over it.  It's gotten them some easy baskets.  Catie Eck in the press and on defense is very long and just seems to get a hand on every single pass.  But her thin size causes her to get lots of fouls called on her also.

Without the AQ, both teams would be on the bubble and hoping for almost no more upsets tonight.  Wheaton is in better shape than IWU but it really doesn't matter.  Chicago and UW-Whitewater will still be #1 and #2 in the final RR I think even though UWW lost.  So Wheaton or IWU will still be #3 or #4 and be the top Pool C team in the region and be on the board early after UW-Whitewater gets chosen almost immediately.

A Benedictine loss to Edgewood in the NACC final tonight could potentially gum up the works.  Babson and Springfield losing last night in the NEWMAC was not good.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, I agree, from an Augie point of view, it shouldn't be happening.  Crazy stupid foul to be sure.  But there you go, it is what it is, it is happening.  Lansford played smart and made the FTs.  Most championship runs involve great play -- which both teams surely demonstrated tonight -- but also some luck, which went the Titans way tonight.  Survive and move on.

'70

Exciting game, yes.  Great play - not really.  Notwithstanding that last very unwise foul, it was somewhat of miracle the Vikes were in it at all.  They committed 30 turnovers as they had all kinds of trouble with the IWU pressure defense.  Augie really needed a confident ball handler to dribble through the press but nobody really stepped up.

True. As a team Augie wasn't particularly turnover-prone this season, but against a press you need a smart, experienced, and skillful primary ballhandler, and Augie just didn't have that kind of player on the roster this season. Last night was an occasion for which Mark Beinborn could've dearly used just one more game's worth of eligibility for 2019 graduate Scooter Lopez.

But the game was still close because the Titans were really awful from the field for the first 30 mins.  They finished shooting 39% for the game after finally getting some rhythm in the fourth and 21% (4/19) from three.  Sosa didn't even have a made field goal until a minute left in the 3rd.  But as All Conf players do, she started going to the hoop and drawing fouls (and Augie kept fouling her) finishing 14/17 from the free throw line.

In fact, Augie was lucky to get to OT.   I don't know why Coach Beinborn didn't call a timeout with 16 secs left in regulation with the ball and score tied.  They could have set up a play to get a good shot but instead ended up taking a pretty poor running half hook shot with 8 seconds left, way too much time on the clock.  This allowed Mia Smith to call timeout, set up a play, get Sosa a layup to lead by 2.  Only Jones' heroic shot sent the game to OT.

Yeah, I remember being baffled by his refusal to call a timeout in that situation as well. I also wondered why he didn't call one early in the final minute of overtime. Augie had the ball and a 71-69 lead with 1:02 remaining, and ended up taking an off-balance jumper by Jones with five seconds left on the shot clock and :37 left on the game clock. She missed it and the Titans rebounded it, leading to Sosa's three-point play that put all of the pressure back on Augie. Beinborn had two timeouts left at that point, according to the box score, so why not use one during that possession? That was an absolutely crucial point in the game, because the Rock Islanders had a chance to go up two possessions with little more than a half-minute remaining. But instead he let his team play it out, and they sort of floundered through a set for 25 seconds without getting the kind of high-percentage opportunity that he might've been able to draw up for them in a timeout.

Yes - it's hard to beat a team three times.

I suspect that you're trying to yank my chain. I'll simply reply with this: Would you have been sweating it out last year if, rather than Illinois Wesleyan, Wheaton had instead had to play Carroll for the CCIW tourney championship -- a Carroll team that had finished tied for last and whom Wheaton had already defeated twice by double digits?

  Case in point - Elmhurst over NCC last night on the men's side.

No, that's not a case in point. That's a case in Bob's point, which is that it's hard to beat a good team three times. Put the word "good" in there, and it becomes a truism rather than a fallacy.

So the Thunder ladies will have their work cut out for them tonight.  If they shoot and execute as well tonight as they did last night against North Central, they should be fine.  They've been playing really good team defense of late.

Wheaton has had an up-and-down season, but the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance has won five in a row and ten of the last eleven and was clearly the best team in the league at the end of the regular season. While Illinois Wesleyan is entirely capable of doing tonight what it did in the same situation last year at King, which was to beat the champion after having lost to the champ twice before, I think that the seniors will get Wheaton to where it needs to be at the end of the game.

[GoPerry]

Yes - it's hard to beat a team three times.

I suspect that you're trying to yank my chain. I'll simply reply with this: Would you have been sweating it out last year if, rather than Illinois Wesleyan, Wheaton had instead had to play Carroll for the CCIW tourney championship -- a Carroll team that had finished tied for last and whom Wheaton had already defeated twice by double digits?

  Case in point - Elmhurst over NCC last night on the men's side.

No, that's not a case in point. That's a case in Bob's point, which is that it's hard to beat a good team three times. Put the word "good" in there, and it becomes a truism rather than a fallacy.

Nope - no chain yanking going on.  Was responding to IWU '70 saying that but I left out the "good".  So my bad. 

In any case, it will be challenging for Wheaton to beat IWU for a 3rd time this season. 

[iwu70]

IWU over WC 25-21, after 1Q.  A pace of game good for IWU.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

IWU up 44-41 at the half.  A high scoring affair, not usual for these two teams.  Pace favours IWU unless they run out of gas at some point.

'70

[GoPerry]

IWU playing like they really want it.  Sosa and Munroe really on fire, Titans shooting 57%, 8/14 from three which is bad news for Wheaton. Good news is that Wheaton only down by 3.  They'll need a little more from either Madsen or Swider.

No Catie Eck for Wesleyan which is significant.

[iwu70]

After 3Q, IWU up 67-54.  Playing at a pace and speed that surely favours IWU.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Whatever disease North Central had last night appears to be contagious, because Wheaton's caught it. The Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance is playing terrible basketball, and the Titans are taking full opportunity to make them pay for it at both ends of the floor.

[Gregory Sager]

Munroe, who definitely falls under the category of "x factor," has been the difference in Wesleyan winning this game. She's just crushed it from beyond the arc.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 76  Ill Wesleyan 84

Very disappointing that Wheaton was thoroughly outplayed and outcoached on their home floor by a Titan team that played like they actually wanted to win the game.  The Thunder on the other hand played lackadaisically, were outhustled constantly (-12 rebounds, -11 offense) and just plain beaten to the ball all night.  How they could not expect IWU to be up for the game is a mystery.  The visitors had way more energy, knew what they needed to do tonight and went out and did it.  Sosa (31 pts)was nothing short of magnificent and Munroe (26 pts, 7/10 three) a career performance in a game of this magnitude.  Congratulations to IWU for a very deserving CCIW Tournament championship.

Wheaton now hoping for a Pool C bid.  They are very near the bubble but I think they are in decent shape provided there are not too many Pool A upsets this weekend.  If they do, they will no doubt have a very tough draw such as traveling to Holland to play Hope or to Whitewater to play the Warhawks.

[iwu70]

IWU playing with purpose and energy tonight.  Clearly a pace and style of game suited for IWU's pressure and offensive skills. 

IWU 84 WC 76 -- IWU wins the AQ.  Congrats to my TITANS.  Congrats to WC.  I hope they get a bid, very deserving.

IWU:

Sosa (the MOP tonight), 31, 9-11 FTs, 4 steals
Munroe (a monster game), 26, great ball handling, 7-10 from treyland,
Shanks 14 and 6, 4 steals
Brovelli 5 and 9
Lowis 8 rebounds

The Titans are very dangerous when three scorers like tonight.

WC:

Frazier 22 and 9, outstanding as always, a truly superb career
Berg 13 and 9
William 12, kept under control better in this game.

Hope the TITANS get a good seeding, maybe even hosting some games.  We'll see. 

Congrats to Coach Smith and all the Titans on a great season, winning the AQ, moving on into March. 

More basketball to be played.  Shanks not hanging it up quite yet! 

IWU'70

[iwumichigander]

Congratulations Lady Titans!  Great 40 minutes by everyone!  Sosa and Monroe terrific tonight.