WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[lmitzel]

Jayla Johnson is an awesome player.  If she catches it on the block, it's almost automatically a bucket.  The Titans did better fighter her off a bit in the second half, with a number of entry passes going astray . . .

Those weren't really her fault. And, in fact, Jayla had a slightly better second half than first half at the offensive end, statistically speaking.

Targeting and executing a post entry pass is an acquired skill, and it's one that the young NPU point guard corps is still working to master. And, of course, the degree of difficulty is higher when the intended target is double-teamed, as Jayla was consistently on Monday night and as she will consistently be for the remainder of the season as well. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Tim Bernero throws the kitchen sink at Jayla tomorrow night in Tarble.

I hope he doesn't take you too literally - I'm pretty sure throwing the kitchen sink at a player would be a technical foul!

But would it be an administrative tech?

[RogK]

Surprisingly, NCAA by-laws address this exact situation.
It all depends on where the sink was manufactured. For example, if it was made in Missouri, the tech free throws have to be taken by a current player from Fontbonne or Webster, etc, who has to be flown in by private jet within a 2 hour time frame.
Meanwhile both teams are required to remain on the court and read D3boards posts out loud. Comity ensues.

[Gregory Sager]

I can hear Tim up in Kenosha groaning at these jokes all the way from here.

[iwu70]

RogK, yes, a million+ miles on United, in the days for the non-stops HKG-ORD and back again, many times, with my son . . .  not much flying of late, and always wanted a non-US carrier around Asia, as the flights are more frequent and the service and food surely better. 

Looking forward to the Titans hosting Elmhurst tonight.  I doubt tonight is the night that Elmhurst gets into the victory column.  The big game for us now is the trip to Decatur to take on the Big Blue again . . . a week from tonight, 2/2/22.  I will drive down to Decatur for that one for sure.  IWU has a bye date this Saturday, so some rest and time to prepare for the big game at Millikin.  Fortuitous scheduling for IWU . . .

Again, good to meet you and Sager up at NPU.

Best for Tigers roaring in . . . 

'70

[lmitzel]

Tough one in Rock Island.

Augie 64
NCC 56
OT

Cardinals led by two with 18 seconds to go, gave up a pair of free throws to send it to the extra session, then managed just a pair from the stripe in those five minutes.

[GoPerry]

Carroll Pios over the Wheaton Thunder 57-47

Not an especially well played game by either team .  But the Pios settled down in the 2nd half and pulled away.  Wheaton shot 37% from the field and were an astonishing 1/10 from the free throw line.  After the last two games of taking better care of the ball, Wheaton reverted to their old ways with 23 turnovers.

Hannah Swider led Wheaton with 14 pts 5/12, 4/5 from three.  Annika Richardson had her second lackluster game in a row shooting 3/13 from the field, 1/5 from three for 7 pts.

The Rohner-less Pios were led by Natalie Palzkill with 12 pts, 5 rebs.  Allison Thompson contributed 6 pts and 12 rebs.

Wheaton needs to be better if they want to make the conference tourney.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 55
Carthage 48

Jayla Johnson: 21 pts, 11 rebs
Chantel Hairston: 15 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls
Esther Miller: 15 pts

Bridget Barrett: 19 pts, 6 rebs
Lauren Knight: 10 pts
Ayanna Ester: 6 rebs

I am incredibly proud of the NPU women! I honestly have had my doubts about whether the Vikings would be able to win another game or not with Emily Czuhajewski most likely gone for the season. But my pessimism proved groundless, as the Vikings went on the road and forged a season split with the Firebirds, courtesy of a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter that put the Park up for good. The bench played a total of 15 minutes in this game, as the five Vikings starters marathoned their way to the finish line (40, 40, 39, 35, and 32 minutes between them).

Way to go, Vikings!

[iwu70]

In a game that was never close (22-9 in the first Q), IWU over Elmhurst at The Shirk, 85 - 60.

For EU:

Harazin 15
Conley 12
Matrise 11

For IWU:
Lansford 16
Palmer 12
Eck, another very good game on defense, 10

"Run and jump" doing its dirt, IWU winning the TO line 12 - 34.  So it goes, a tsunami of layups off TOs.

IWU shooting 45% from the field, though a dismal 27% from the FT line, 3-11.  Gotta clean that up!

A night off Saturday, then the big return game down in Decatur with Millikin, basically a regular season championship game, or at least a key game to see who will be in the driver's seat going into the last 4-5 games of the regular season.

Keep it rolling TITANS, one game at a time.  Nice work tonight . . .  I wanted 100! 

IWU'70

[RogK]

47...48...55...56(in OT)...57...60...64(in OT)...85
Five of the 8 teams under 58; seven of eight score under 65; way too much defense in the league tonight!

[iwu70]

RogK, IWU could have easily scored over 100 vs. EU . . . Mia Smith put in her second and third groups in the 4th Q and things slowed down tremendously.  IWU was up over 30 at that point.  Those two groups have a long way to go . . . on both ends of the court.  When the first group, the regular rotation is clicking on pressure defense, they can score a lot of points, and very fast . . .  layups off turnovers.   

IWU has Saturday off, then the big one down at Millikin. . . next Wednesday. 

'70

[Gregory Sager]

47...48...55...56(in OT)...57...60...64(in OT)...85
Five of the 8 teams under 58; seven of eight score under 65; way too much defense in the league tonight!

Bite your tongue. To a large degree, basketball is about dictating the tempo that best suits your team, especially if your opponent wants to play faster or slower than yours. And there are certain teams that want to slow it down and grind it out in the halfcourt.

Even when the team isn't depth-challenged the way that it is right now without Emily, North Park typically wants to be a defense-first team that works the clock and is most effective if the score is in the 50s, 60s, or at most the low 70s. That's just as valid a style as is uptempo ball. And, given that that's what the Vikings are typically set up to play on an annual basis, that's the type of game that I want to see.

[RogK]

I did bite my tongue a few months ago while attempting the hazardous process of chewing food.
North Park is 2-0 this season when scoring in the 90s.
And they are 3-1 when scoring in the 80s.
Reaching 80 is not easy now, without Emily C.
iwu70, I fully agree that IWU was nice to Elmhurst and could have rung up well over 100. No less than 15 Titans played at least 5 minutes and I'm sure IWU called off the press early.

[Gregory Sager]

I did bite my tongue a few months ago while attempting the hazardous process of chewing food.

Never let it be said that I am not a helpful friend.

North Park is 2-0 this season when scoring in the 90s.
And they are 3-1 when scoring in the 80s.

Extenuating circumstances. The two wins in the 90s were against teams whose collective basketball ability is downright ghastly, Olivet (2-15) and Mount Mary (0-15). Amanda Crockett worked so hard to keep her team's score down in both games that thirteen Vikings played double-digit minutes against Olivet and twelve Vikings played double-digit minutes against Mount Mary.

In terms of NPU's three wins in the 80s, one was over an Elmhurst team that still has yet to win a CCIW game (which now makes me doubly nervous for Saturday), and another was an overtime win over North Central that had a regulation score that was much more in the Vikings' wheelhouse when it comes to scoring (69-69). The win at Wheaton was more of an aberration, in that the game was played at Wheaton's preferred pace and yet the Vikings still won. The loss, of course, was reflective of the fact that Millikin dictated tempo and the Vikings simply couldn't keep up.

Reaching 80 is not easy now, without Emily C.

Boy, does that deserve a meme:

[RogK]

With friends like that, who needs enemas?
The updated ladder :
9-1 IWU
8-1 MIL
5-4 CRL NPU
5-5 WHE
4-5 NCC
4-6 CTG
3-7 AUG
0-10 ELM

[iwu70]

Thanks for the new standings, the new "ladder," RogK.  Sure nice to see my Titans on top!   I guess my Lou Holz impersonation has worked out fine, so far . . .  Big game next week in Decatur.  And, IWU still has return games at The Shirk with NPU and WC.  Lots of basketball still to be played, but I like where we sit right now . . . a pretty favorable schedule for IWU now.

Yes, Mia Smith basically pulled the starters for the entire 4Q and pulled back the press by late in the 3Q when the Titans were up over 30 points.  All 17 Titans in uniform saw floor time . . .

'70