WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Love it all folks!!!  Good luck to all the teams tonight - glad we are gonna get to stop just talking about it and let the players do what they do.

[iwu70]

Rog always the genius.

Yes, here comes the games.  I'm heading for The Shirk soon -- Williams - Wabash first, then the lovely re-match IWU hosting Wheaton.  Top quality D3 hoops, for sure.

I do hope Millikin gives Hope a good game . . .

(Illinois went down to #9 seed Indiana -- so pretty much anything can happen at this top level in tournaments).

'70

[GoPerry]

Hope over Millikin 91-77

Nice effort by the Millikin Big Blue.  Too much size and depth from the Flying Dutch.  Too many turnovers (18-7) giving Hope too many chances.  18 more shot attempts by Hope and +3 free throws too.  Hope defended Knudsen really well in the 2nd half.

I have to say I'm really surprised at the zone.  To me that plays right into Hope hands.  Schoonveld and Majerus had so many wide open, uncontested looks.  And it also resulted in a +7 offensive rebound edge for the home team.

[Gregory Sager]

Hope 91
Millikin 77

This one pretty much went the way we all figured it'd go. It was tight into the third quarter, basically because Millikin was red-hot from the field and was hitting the boards hard enough to offset their myriad turnovers against the ultra-long and savvy Hope defense. But in the third quarter, the length of the Flying Dutch turned to their advantage on the offensive boards, allowing them to extend possessions and use the extra time with the ball to break down the MU defense and get to the basket. Hope never pulled away -- despite the Hope announcers repeatedly insisting that it was going to happen -- but the hosts kept the lead in double digits in the late third quarter and throughout the fourth, preventing the Big Blue from ever really threatening.

Elyce Knudsen finished the night with 25 points, but was often guilty of trying to do too much or of forcing passes where nobody was open on back-door cut attempts, as she was charged with half of MU's 18 turnovers. Bailey Coffman had a really solid night with 17 and 6, including 6-10 from range, and Jordan Hildebrand, who was swallowed up all night inside by 6'3 Olivia Voskuil and a lot of her tall Dutch associates, somehow managed to pick up 14 points in her basketball career finale, as she now turns her attention to softball. Natalie Snyder had a nice night off of the bench for Jimmy Millikin with 13.

Better showing than usual for the CCIW in the postseason, although it came to an end as expected tonight. (The Hope PBP guy kept saying that Millikin had an edge coming into the game because the CCIW is a power conference, referring to the men; he clearly isn't aware that this is a different sport, and that the CCIW is not on the same level on the women's side that it is on the men's.)

[RogK]

Yeah, playing against Hope is basically playing against an all-star team.
A valiant effort by Millikin. Congrats to their seniors for fine basketball careers : Jordan Hildebrand, Jazmin Brown (could return for a 5th season) and Aubrey Staton (also could play one more).
Millikin should end up somewhere in the final top 25 and certainly has a bright immediate future. We'll see if Abby Ratsch can play next season.
Congrats to both Hope and Millikin for the very clean game; no nasty or intentionally violent fouls.

[Gregory Sager]

Yeah, playing against Hope is basically playing against an all-star team.

Definitely. I honestly haven't watched enough of the top D3 women's teams to make what I would consider to be an informed assessment, but, nevertheless, I'll be surprised if Hope doesn't at minimum make it all the way to the national championship game.

[GoPerry]

Better showing than usual for the CCIW in the postseason, although it came to an end as expected tonight. (The Hope PBP guy kept saying that Millikin had an edge coming into the game because the CCIW is a power conference, referring to the men; he clearly isn't aware that this is a different sport, and that the CCIW is not on the same level on the women's side that it is on the men's.)

Yes - that was funny.  But one thing I have always enjoyed about Hope broadcasts is their student announcers (at least I think they're student announcers).  They typically have a very high level of game knowledge, are not excessively homer and generally speaking do a very balanced job.

[Roundball999]

Better showing than usual for the CCIW in the postseason, although it came to an end as expected tonight. (The Hope PBP guy kept saying that Millikin had an edge coming into the game because the CCIW is a power conference, referring to the men; he clearly isn't aware that this is a different sport, and that the CCIW is not on the same level on the women's side that it is on the men's.)

Yes - that was funny.  But one thing I have always enjoyed about Hope broadcasts is their student announcers (at least I think they're student announcers).  They typically have a very high level of game knowledge, are not excessively homer and generally speaking do a very balanced job.

Yes, student announcers.

Mr. Sager, if they keep winning, Hope would face Trine in the national semis and Trine has already demonstrated they are more than capable of beating the Dutch.  Not a lock by any stretch to make the final game

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, I'm aware of that. But Hope has beaten Trine twice, and the Dutch would be the favorite if they met for the fourth time. That's my point. I didn't say anything about Hope being "a lock." I merely said that I'd be surprised if they don't make it that far.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Olivia Lett and the Big Blue on their season, on getting to the Sweet Sixteen this year.  They got within 14, so I give them a lot of credit tonight, playing at DeVos.  The MU program in great shape for the future with Knudsen and the others . . .

I think Hope goes all the way now, Trine notwithstanding. 

Glad to see, on the men's side, EU and IWU getting to the Elite 8.  Some great games at The Shirk tonight. 

Congrats again to the Big Blue!

iwu'70

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Yes, student announcers.

Nope - the two gentlemen calling the game last night were a Hope grad who is a current HS basketball asst (was a student asst at Hope) and a Hope professor who was a former basketball official). I know the prof was also on the call for the NYU/Scranton game. During that game he was touting the strength of NYUs schedule in the UAA and I suspect may have carried that thought to the CCIW.

That being said, based on vRRO and SOS, Millikin did play a "tougher" schedule than Hope:

vRRO
Hope 6-1
Millikin 9-5

SOS
Hope .540
Millikin .563

Based on Massey conference rankings, the CCIW is ranked #5 and the MIAA is #7

[Roundball999]

Yes, student announcers.

Nope - the two gentlemen calling the game last night were a Hope grad and current HS basketball asst (was a student asst at Hope) and a Hope professor and former basketball official). I know the prof was also on the call for the NYU/Scranton game. During that game he was touting the strength of NYUs schedule in the UAA and I suspect may have carried that thought (incorrectly) to the CCIW.

Thanks for the correction.  I know Hope often (usually?) has student announcers so just assumed the same last night.

[RogK]

Counting non-conference and NCAA tourney action, the composite CCIW WBB record outside the conference ended at 51-33 (.607).
Within the conference regular season and CCIW tournament, they combined for 77-77 (.500 again darn it, can't seem to ever do any better).
standings arranged by win total :
23-7 MIL
20-9 IWU
19-7 CRL
16-11 WHE
15-10 NPU
12-13 AUG
11-14 CTG
9-17 NCC
3-22 ELM

[GoPerry]

. . .  they combined for 77-77 (.500 again darn it, can't seem to ever do any better).

It's that new math Rog . . . maybe next year they'll do better . .?

[RogK]

it's the 77 subtrahend that's the problem