WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

One would! Yet, they've won only 4 of their 4 games so far.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 85
Dominican  52

Hannah Swider  21 pts, 7 reb   7/9 FG, 4/4 3FG, 3/4 FT
Annie Tate  19 pts, 11 rebs
Ellie Cassel  8 pts, 9 rebs

Alisha Markley  16 pts
Sophia Warner 10 pts

The Thunder ladies got off to a slightly sluggish start but eventually found their groove and had a big scoring night.  The Thunder clear height advantage was largely responsible for the 52-22 rebound advantage. 

With a 7-0 non-con record, they will enjoy a week off before traveling to Kenosha to open CCIW play next Wednesday.

[RogK]

the other Tuesday CCIW action :
Carthage 87-56 over Lake Forest;
five Firebirds scored in double figures including Destiny Antoine 17 and Lauren Knight 18
North Central fell 68-63 at Benedictine in the battle of Maple Avenue;
IxChel Leeuwenburgh had 14 pts, 11 rebs and only 1 TO

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 92
Olivet 46

Jayla Johnson: 20 pts, 7 rebs
Lauren Lee: 16 pts (4-5 trey)
Emily Czuhajewski: 12 pts
Nicole Hansen: 7 rebs, 3 stls
Chantel Hairston: 7:0 a:to, 5 stls
Savanna Childress: 5:2 a:to, 3 stls
Lauren McKnight: 4:0 a:to
Esther Miller: 7 stls

This one was over with fairly quickly, as NPU dispatched an underskilled Olivet team with ease. The Comets turned the ball over 30 times, 25 of them courtesy of NPU steals.

The next game for the Vikings will not be nearly this easy: the Maroons of the U of C will come up the Dan Ryan next Saturday afternoon to face North Park.

[Jester1390]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooh

[Gregory Sager]

Webster topped Augustana in St. Louis, 81-74. Macy Beinborn led the way in the losing effort with 22, while Gabriela Loiz added 15 points and seven boards. Hannah Simmer (16 and 10) and Lauren Hall (10 and 10) managed the unusual trick of simultaneously registering double-doubles for a losing team, as Augie crushed the Gorloks on the boards, 41-28, but lost mostly because AC turned the ball over a whopping 35 times.

Carroll cruised past Ripon at Van Male, 65-46. Katie Rohner scored 15 for the Pios, while Natalie Palzkill added 14 and Elizabeth Behrndt contribued 12 and 10.

Elmhurst finally got off the schneid with a 72-60 win at Dominican. Three Bluejays -- Marissa Mussatto, Taylor Harazin, and Morgan Collar -- scored 13 points apiece, with Mussatto and Collar double-doubling with 12 and 11 boards, respectively.

Illinois Wesleyan dropped one at home to Rose-Hulman, 69-64, despite Lauren Huber's 31 points. Mallory Powers was the only other Titan in double figures with 11, while Huber, Powers, and Kaia Bowen shared rebounding honors with seven apiece. The Titans took 14 more shots than did RHIT, courtesy of a 21-16 offensive rebounding edge and 13 fewer turnovers than the Engineers, but negated that advantage by shooting a frigid 27% from the field.

The CCIW at the moment:

Wheaton	7-0
Carroll	5-0
North Park	5-1
Augustana	5-2
Carthage	3-2
North Central	3-2
Millikin	3-3
Illinois Wesleyan	1-3
Elmhurst	1-6

That puts the league at 33-19 (.635).

[RogK]

Sunday results :
Wash U StL 83-72 over IWU
Titans got 21 pts (1/1 3FG, 7/12 2FG, 4/5 FT) from Lauren Huber;
Millikin topped Illinois* 74-65
Elyce Knudsen (2/4 3FG, 7/10 2FG, 2/2 FT) scored 22, while Jordan Hildebrand had 7 steals, 8 rebs, 2 blocks and 15 pts;
Abby Ratsch, who played only 5 minutes in their previous game, did not play today; sounds like an injury.
*Illinois College

[iwu70]

IWU going 0-2 this weekend at the Midwest Challenge, losing to Rose Hulman and then today to Wash U, as reported.

Mia Smith seems to be experimenting still with the rotation, the line-up, even the starters.  It's pretty clear this squad is very challenged offensively, with few real shooters, so they will have to win with defensive pressure and easy layups off of the press.  They were down 23 at the half vs. Wash U, playing mostly in the half court.  IWU just doesn't do that well, and is undersized for D3, so will struggle against teams with talented bigs.  Wash U was probably the most talented 0-4 team in the country, coming into this one.  Their first win today.  IWU won the second half via all the pressure, creating offense off of the defense.  This will surely tell them something going forward.  They had an excellent second half, making it competitive, getting within single digits at one point, before it faded again.  But, it's going to be tough for the Titans to finish above .500 for the year, perhaps in the middle of the CCIW, unless they find a better approach, and surely a better shooting percentage, some better trey shooting.  This is clearly the post-Sosa, post-Brovelli era. 

Today vs Wash U:

Huber 21
Eck 15
Palmer 12
Lansford 8 (just not finding her shot yet this season)
Heller 8 (having a stronger game today)

All the Titans in the rotation played very hard with "run and jump," with the defensive, full-court pressure.  Much better today, and really bothering Wash U in the second half. 

It seems to me like Coach Smith just might go all in on the freshmen, and truly throw them into the fire with the hope that they become wiser, stronger, and a key part of the build for the future . . .  the three freshmen are talented:  Huber, Palmer and Powers -- most especially Huber.  She'll be an all-conference player in future . . .maybe even this year.  She scored 52 points in the two games of this weekend tournament and has real basketball smarts.  The other newbies developing much slower and will need much more time to get up to CCIW levels and speed. 

This team will struggle, but the second half today I think gave them some confidence and some good ideas of how to play with the personnel and talent they have.

DePauw won the tournament, beating Rose by about 10 in the championship game this afternoon.  They look like a legit top 25 team, with good depth, some talented bigs and shot-blockers, and some great trey shooters.     

IWU'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

With the great teams IWU has had during much of the Mia Smith era, am I correct in assuming that this is the first time the Titans have ever finished dead last in the Midwest Challenge? 

I believe the tourney has gone by various names over the years, but has always been WashU, DePauw, and IWU, plus a fourth team that has varied over time (and has USUALLY been a 'sacrificial lamb', as the three regulars are generally national title challengers).

[iwu70]

Ypsi, could be.  Yes, usually Wash U, DePauw, IWU and a fourth.  This time Rose Hulman.  Rose was pretty strong this year, and likely, too, the only time Wash U came into the tourney at 0-4.  I think of these four, only DePauw really looking like a top 25 team . . . at #19 in the pre-season poll?  Some really good players on all squads, but IWU still finding its way, its identity for this year.  Mia and the team trying to figure it all out, shifting rotations, and starting lineups, trying different approaches to match the personnel, the talents and the opponents . . .  and IWU really not with as much size or talent as in the past.  The encouraging news is the three freshmen who are pretty good, especially Lauren Huber, and could be the nucleus for a pretty good team in a year or two.  This year, not so much.  IWU really needs some bigs who can rebound and score.  Bowen and Carlson play hard, but they can't match up with truly talented, offensively-minded bigs on many teams. Eck can go on streaks, but is not the consistent offensive presence needed.  Lansford hasn't found her shot yet this year, and plays the PG position now, a place for which she is not so well-suited IMHO.  IWU will be lucky to finish above .500 given the strength of schedule and the gauntlet that is the CCIW, on both sides, especially the men this year. Just from my early impressions, having seen three women's games in person now. 

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

DePauw won the tournament, beating Rose by about 10 in the championship game this afternoon.  They look like a legit top 25 team, with good depth, some talented bigs and shot-blockers, and some great trey shooters. 

I like the sound of that, since NPU beat Rose-Hulman by ten last weekend, too. Should've beaten the Engineers by even more, except that it was an uncharacteristically clank-filled afternoon that day for the Vikings from the free-throw line. They shot .462 (12-26) from the stripe, in marked contrast to the combined .659 (58-88) they've shot in their other four games.



(No, I don't really think that the Vikings are a top 25 team ... although they're certainly not bad at all.)

[Jester1390]

So let me see rose stays with north park except a stretch in the 3rd when 3 starters are on the bench due to foul trouble and the foul calls heavily in npu favor and oh hey wait well if rose made more shots guess what they win.   North park played well their defense is good but to imply that rose had no business on the floor with them. You must not have been watching the game you were calling.  I will rip rose more then anyone when it's deserved and my kid is on the team.  They have plAyed thier asses of the last 2 weekends and pushed DePauw today. To belittle Them is in poor taste.  If anything I saw 4 teams this weekend that can play with almost anyone    The Huber girl is outstanding.  Washington has athletic strong and smart players.  DePauw is deep and in Rose case couldn't match their depth and eventually wore down but was still within 5 in 4th quarter.

For a bunch of engineers they played pretty damn good. Had a great time and everyone at IWU was really nice. 

[Enginerd]

DePauw won the tournament, beating Rose by about 10 in the championship game this afternoon.  They look like a legit top 25 team, with good depth, some talented bigs and shot-blockers, and some great trey shooters. 

I like the sound of that, since NPU beat Rose-Hulman by ten last weekend, too. Should've beaten the Engineers by even more, except that it was an uncharacteristically clank-filled afternoon that day for the Vikings from the free-throw line. They shot .462 (12-26) from the stripe, in marked contrast to the combined .659 (58-88) they've shot in their other four games.


(No, I don't really think that the Vikings are a top 25 team ... although they're certainly not bad at all.)

Rose-Hulman did not play well-enough to win vs. North Park, period. Having said that, it was easily one of the more one-sided officiating efforts I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, you have to expect that - on the road and with an officiating crew from the CCIW or any other league - that's basketball and playing games on the road and teams across all divisions have to deal with it - that crew aren't going to see RHIT for the rest of the year and will all likely see NPU multiple times this season each. It's not intentional but predictable. I'd add that there were some fouls called/not called Saturday that likely had both RHIT AND IWU benches steaming.

Not having Hein at full-strength was a big factor as well - anyone that saw her play this weekend would agree she didn't even look like the same player - in fact had she been healthy from the beginning I think RHIT would be 4-1 right now. Jester, wasn't she injured for a while? Once she figures out RHIT's system she's going to be a real D-III talent - she was the state of California's 2018 player of the year in her (Sophomore) class and an EYBL/ Adidas All-American so it's no surprise she can play a little bit. I don't think there's any way the RHIT team that played in the Midwest Classic this weekend loses to NPU again. Jester did you see the NASTY block off the dribble that the Baum kid had vs. DePauw's best kid - Shannon - it was breathtakingly athletic and I'm not sure I've seen anyone do that to a really good player in a long time - Baum is going to be special as well - just a freshman. With Hein effectively being a freshman the Engineers' back-court will be exceptional for years, hopefully.

RHIT might not have the talent across the board that some elite teams do, but they won't back down from anyone. In fact, if RHIT hadn't completely lost their discipline in the 2nd half and forgotten how to run an offense they'd have beaten DePauw as well - the 10-1 run to start the game was no fluke. DePauw was deeper and wore them down as the game went on - and RHIT helped them out by playing pick-up basketball the last 15 minutes, at least offensively. They really were bad offensively from about the 5 minute mark in the 3rd on. I've never seen so much standing and dribbling around in my life. As for whether or not they belong there I think the only team RHIT has not beaten recently is WashU. Rose has defeated IWU twice in the past 5 years or so and defeated DePauw once - sacrificial lambs do not rise up on the alter and kill the person with the knife.

It was interesting to see that 100% of IWU's and DePauw's starters were Illinois kids - with DePauw's starters all coming from Chicago's NW suburbs - while RHIT literally has to scour the planet for kids that can get admitted, survive academically, afford the tuition (Jester, what's it costing you to send your daughter there? A lot more than her other options I'll bet), and finally, actually be able to compete against kids at schools with larger endowments and much better financial aid - I'll bet there isn't a kid on RHIT's team paying less than $35-$40,000 AFTER financial aid. It's kind of crazy seeing Illinois listed 10 times this weekend for RHIT's opponents starters while the Engineers are rolling out California (twice), Minnesota, Kansas, and Virginia. Instead of questioning whether RHIT should be included in the event, we should be asking how in the world they could possibly be as competitive as they are?

As for NPU vs. IWU, at this point in the season I think NPU might be able to squeak past the Titans, who as someone just pointed out are still trying to sort out whom they are right now. However, IWU is a bit more talented athletically and would appear to have an advantage in that they have a deeper bench.

I don't think there's any question that this is NPU's best team in a while - with some luck and continued getting to the FT line as much as they have up to this point, I could see them finishing 4th in the league, maybe 3rd(admittedly I don't know a great deal about the CCIW) - with at least one game where they beat someone they probably shouldn't like Millikin or Wheaton - especially at home. They're a good team and should be dangerous in March.

IWU takes a lot of quick, bad shots in transition that they've always been able to just shrug-off because they knew they'd turn the other team over so many times that the extra possessions would make up for it - but thus far they haven't been able to knock down enough perimeter shots to balance things out. If they'll be more judicious about their shot-selection and try not to be as frantic offensively as they try to make other teams defensively, I think they have a chance to beat some teams in the CCIW this year. I say they split with NPU and likely have at least one semi-upset over a Wheaton or Millikin and they'll be right there at the end - a team that nobody wants to have to prepare for in the CCIW Tournament.

WashU will struggle at times this year but it seems to me that the UAA is down a bit from years past - they are so talented they'd easily be a team that could get hot and win a conference tournament and snag an automatic bid - problem is the UAA doesn't have a tournament. I doubt they win the UAA but they might be the best 1-4 team in the world.

DePauw will only get better - they'll be a legit Sweet-16'ish team by March - maybe more...

I think it's still too early to determine who RHIT will be - but they sure looked like a team that could finish in the top-3 in the HCAC and be right there in March.

[RogK]

It wasn't Greg who did any belittling of RHIT. All he did was note a failing on his own team's part, the missing a lot of free throws.
Had NPU made 2/3rds of their FTs (such as 17/26 or 18/26), they would have won by 15 or 16 instead of ten.

[RogK]

I saw Hein only in one game. Among the things she did well was making superb passes on a couple of fast breaks.
She should be a lot of fun to watch as the season advances.
I don't think Coach Prevo wants a fast-paced offense though, so some of Hein's talent may not be fully utilized.