WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

A tough, tight game at Carver, IWU sharing the CCIW regular season championship.  Yes, it's back to The Griz. 

Bowen was the key in this one, making all the key FTs in the last two minutes, to seal the deal in a very close game. 

I was very impressed with Beinborn -- 22 points. 
Loiz 14 and 13
Berg 13

For IWU:
Bowen 18 and 5
Lansford 13
Heller 13
Huber 10 and 9

IWU lucky to win this one, shooting it rather poorly at 35% from the field and 22% from three.  Key stat was again winning the TO line 19-9, but being out-rebounded 31-40.

Great regular season for the Titans -- my congrats to Coach Smith, all the staff and all the players for winning a share of the regular season CCIW championship.  You'all certainly surprised me and greatly over-achieved.  IMHO

IWU will have to play better than they did tonight to win the rubber match with MU on their blue court, if it comes to that.

I long drive, but a satisfying result.

IWU'70

[RogK]

I'm getting a headache trying to narrow a list for "my opinion / not a prediction" 16 players for all-CCIW. Too many reasonable options!
I bet several coaches have headaches from trying to narrow down their nominations. So many players have excelled in several games but haven't accumulated season stats that make them obvious choices. Carroll has a bunch of such players. IWU has a handful too.
Setting that aside, I think Newcomer of the Year comes down to Olivia Rangel or Lauren Huber, with Annika Richardson not far behind.
Incidentally, while looking at stats, I found a player who has shot over 78% (18 of 23) on 2FGs and rebounds 31 per 100 min.

[iwu70]

Good luck, RogK -- not an easy task. Some obvious choices but many who made important contributions but not with the obvious stats.

My vote for MOP goes now to Knudsen, as on the winning conference co-Champion -- Lansford and Jayla Johnson obviously first team All-CCIW.  Huber has my vote for newcomer . . .

I wish there was a defensive player of the year award . . . I'd vote for Bowen . . . she was the difference in the game last night, with key rebounds, boxing out, being fouled in crunch time, making 5-5 FTs in the last two minutes.  Catie Eck now very near the all-time blocks record for the IWU program, likely topping Shelby Jackson for career blocks.

Beinborn was very impressive last night at Carver, almost getting her team over the hump, beating IWU.  Not quite.  IWU made tons of errors, had many missed shots, lay-ups.  I think Coach Smith was very frustrated.  It's lucky she doesn't pull out her hair!

Now a rest week, recouping week for the Titans, for MU . . . and the tournament next weekend -- Friday Saturday.  Men's tournament at The Shirk.

Rock Island a long drive, but a fun afternoon and evening, two good games, nice outcomes . . . and time after the game with great Augie friends from China and Vietnam -- not back to B/N til almost 2 a.m. 

IWU'70

[RogK]

my opinion / not a prediction ...
== 1st team :
Jayla Johnson (Most Outstanding, by the slightest margin over Knudsen)
Elyce Knudsen
Brooke Lansford
Jordan Hildebrand
Olivia Rangel
Lauren Huber
Gabriela Loiz
Elle Sutter (I hadn't realized that she ranked up there in so many conference-play stat categories)
== 2nd team :
Kate Christian
Hannah Swider
Bailey Coffman
Esther Miller
Annika Richardson
Macy Beinborn
Lauren Knight
Kate Matthews
--- probably 8 or 9 others would easily be Honorable Mention if that was awarded

[iwu70]

RogK, interesting.  I don't know all the teams well enough to really say . . .

I don't see Huber making first team this year.  A great freshmen year, the top newcomer in my view, but perhaps not first team.  Maybe Swider first team. 

IWU so balanced, hard to decide who else is deserving . . . Heller was great the last 7-8 games.  Bowen if defense is important, but unlikely making
All-CCIW, though I think she is very deserving.  She had a great game last night at Augie, really the difference in winning that game and leading to IWU's sharing the league regular season crown with MU. 

We'll know soon enough.

Who do you have winning the play-in games on Tuesday?

IWU'70

[RogK]

I don't predict games, but others may enjoy doing so.

[Gregory Sager]

my opinion / not a prediction ...
== 1st team :
Jayla Johnson (Most Outstanding, by the slightest margin over Knudsen)
Elyce Knudsen
Brooke Lansford
Jordan Hildebrand
Olivia Rangel
Lauren Huber
Gabriela Loiz
Elle Sutter (I hadn't realized that she ranked up there in so many conference-play stat categories)
== 2nd team :
Kate Christian
Hannah Swider
Bailey Coffman
Esther Miller
Annika Richardson
Macy Beinborn
Lauren Knight
Kate Matthews
--- probably 8 or 9 others would easily be Honorable Mention if that was awarded

My prediction (not an opinion ... well, OK, it's an opinion, but it's a prediction opinion, not a personal-preference opinion like Rog's):

first team
Jordan Hildebrand, MU *
Jayla Johnson, NPU *
Lauren Knight, CC
Elyce Knudsen, MU *
Brooke Lansford, IWU *
Gabriela Loiz, AC *
Elle Sutter, NCC
Hannah Swider, WC

second team
Macy Beinborn, AC
Kate Christian, CU
Taylor Harazin, EU
Lauren Huber, IWU
Esther Miller, NPU
Kate Palmer, IWU
Olivia Rangel, CU
Annika Richardson, WC

* unanimous pick

Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Player: Jayla Johnson, NPU (I agree with Rog that she'll barely edge out Knudsen, mostly because of seniority)
Beth Baker Coach of the Year: Olivia Lett, MU and Mia Smith, IWU (I hate to say this, but I sense that the women's coaches are heading down the same dark path long taken by their men's coach peers.)
CCIW Newcomer of the Year: Lauren Huber, IWU

The fact of the matter is that the coaches are always looking to balance individual performance with team performance when giving out first- and second-team honors every February. And there are certain teams that simply don't allow the paradigm to work perfectly this season. One is Elmhurst. The Bluejays finished dead last at 1-15, five games behind their nearest competitors ... a dreadful campaign by any stretch of the imagination. That's typically a recipe for getting shut out of the All-CCIW awards. But Taylor Harazin finished 13th in scoring (with a double-digit average, always an important marker) and 4th in rebounding, in a season in which there wasn't a host of players who had standout numbers. (The latter point is true because scoring was down considerably this season, but rebounds were more dispersed within teams than usual.) She stands out too much to ignore, especially since a bunch of other players on the list didn't post her kind of numbers.

Then there's Carthage: Dead last in scoring, but second-best in defense. Almost every Firebirds game was a slow-paced defensive slog, with scores that looked like something out of the 1970s in terms of the women's game. How do you figure in the Firebirds when the awards are so statistically-based? Lauren Knight was their best offensive player, but she was nothing special, numbers-wise. If we were going off of simple eye test, someone could say that the most impressive Carthage player was Bridget Barrett. But you have to squeeze in a Carthage player somewhere, because you can't shut out a 6-10 team -- especially when you're awarding a 1-15 team with a spot. Under the circumstances, Knight's a legit choice for second team, at least. But the Carthage player almost has to be a first-teamer for balance. So Knight gets the nod.

Carroll poses problems. Terrific team, but a lot of what makes the Pioneers terrific is Lindsay Schultz's reliable depth. She had to use it liberally, because injuries and Covid cost her team a lot of player-minutes. So you have to sort through all of that when making your All-CCIW selections that, according to the way the coaches pick them, has to reflect Carroll's prominence in the standings by awarding CU a first-team player and a second-team player, especially since three teams that finished well below the Pioneers in the standings are going to get a first-teamer and a second-teamer each as well. But you really can't do it -- Olivia Rangel just isn't a first-teamer, no matter how hard you try to justify it, even when compared to Carthage's Lauren Knight -- so you have to settle for picking a couple of Pioneers for second team and then steel yourself to face Lindsay Schultz's ire.

Finally, you have a problem with the two teams at the top. Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan have to be balanced out to reflect their tie, but you can't do it. MU is the only team in the league that has two clear-cut first-teamers in Knudsen and Hildebrand (the Big Blue has a very deserving second-teamer as well in Bailey Coffman who's gonna get shafted, but that's another matter). IWU, however, has only one clear-cut first-teamer, Brooke Lansford. So I predict that the coaches will try to split the difference by awarding the Titans an extra second-teamer, even though Kate Palmer really doesn't merit it over, say, Coffman or Lauren Hall. Coaches always reward offense over defense, so Palmer will get the nod for that third Titans spot over Bowen or Eck.

This should be interesting. I'm waiting with bated breath for the coaches to make a fool out of me on (presumably) Tuesday.

[iwu70]

Many interesting points, good arguments, Greg.

I just wish the coaches would award defense and give Kaia Bowen the nod.  Palmer will have her day and be All-Conference I'm sure in coming years.  Likely Mallory Powers as well.  In several big games for IWU in this latter part of the season when the Titans needed to win out, Kaia Bowen was the difference.   

Maybe they make Knudsen and Jayla co-MOPers this year?

The announcement this week, right?

IWU'70

[RogK]

We here expect the awards to be announced Tuesday.
Remember there are 9 votes, so a tie requires at least three people to receive a vote, no? 4-4-1? Or abstentions?

[RogK]

Congrats to the new CCIW Player of the Week, Elyce Knudsen! Her 3rd of the season.

[D-3 watcher]

Elyce Knudsen, should be and will be MOP. She can do everything but guard the opposing post and do it well. The fact that she's just a sophomore shouldn't and won't factor in. The fact that it's most outstanding player instead of most valuable player actually hurts her. Most valuable would be an easy win seeing how Millikan finished first and is hosting the tournament.
Jayla Johnson is a great player as well, I would think an easy unanimous first team selection. She certainly had a great season. Hopefully coaches outside the CCIW recognize this and more accolades are coming. And I'm sure she's not giving the tournament's title up just yet.
In my mind, if I'm picking the best player in the conference, you have to ask if you had the first pick to start your team, who are you taking?

[iwu70]

D-3, some very good points about Knudsen.  She's likely to be named MOP. 

If IWU and MU get to their re-match, rubber match on Saturday evening, it will be very interesting again to see how Mia Smith and the Titans decide to defend Knudsen and the other Big Blue players . . .  IWU will have to play much better than they did in the first half at The Griz last time, and also better than they played in struggling to beat Augie on Saturday night.  Home court surely an advantage for Olivia Lett and the Big Blue . . . if it comes to that game.  Maybe it's Carroll vs. IWU on Friday . . . and NPU vs. Millikin ?  Those are tough games for the #1 and #2 seeds. . . .

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

I think MOP is still a toss up between Knudsen and Johnson.  Knudsen's 41 pt performance on Saturday separated herself on the scoring stat from Johnson.  But Johnson's 18.5 ppg / 8.5 rpg can't be ignored for what it is even though she's not as flashy as Knudsen.  Both are about the same size but play different positions.  I would still go with Johnson but barely.

I think Bailey Coffman is solidly on the 2nd team.  I don't think Wheaton will get a second player after Swider.  But if they do it will be Cassel, not Richardson.

[lmitzel]

I wonder how close the voting was, but there's one for Knudsen.

Thrilled for Elle Sutter too for earning First Team honors.

[RogK]

2022 Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Student-Athlete
Elyce Knudsen - Millikin

2022 CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year
Olivia Rangel - Carroll

2022 CCIW Beth Baker Coach of the Year
Olivia Lett - Millikin
--
Two Olivias? Could be a conspiracy. Somebody oughta look into that!
Congrats to the above trio!