WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

Baguley's shooting is simply superb, by the way :
26/50 3FGs = .520
105/162 2FGs = .648
56/67 FTs = .836
288 of her points via 212 FG att = .679 effective FG% (288/424)

[Roundball999]

One notable player on Emory is 5'6" sophomore Daniella Aronsky.
She currently is #1 nationally (D3 WBB) in 3FG% at .473, averaging 2.58 made in 5.46 att per game.
That's the equivalent of slightly over 70% in 2FG shooting.
And she rates #2 nationally in assists per game at 6.625; Alexis Durham of Notre Dame Maryland is best at 6.64.

Couldn't figure out why Hope players weren't showing up on the individual 3 pt % list, after all they lead the nation in team 3 pt %, are #6 in made 3 pt/game, and Claire Baguley has been over 50% all year.  It doesn't say so on the NCAA stat page but there must be a required number of minimum attempts that none of the Hope players meet.  They have so many different players that take and make threes that none of the individuals make the list.  Strange, but part of what makes themn tough; you can't focus on just one or two shooters.

If you're following the link from D3hoops.com for NCAA stats, it takes you to NCAA.org. On that site, when you get to individual stats and the leaders in three-point percentage, it says this:

Min. 2 made per game | Players must play in 75% of their team's games   

Thanks.  I actually just go straight to https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d3 and there it makes no mention of the required minimums.  Strange again.

[Roundball999]

Baguley's shooting is simply superb, by the way :
26/50 3FGs = .520
105/162 2FGs = .648
56/67 FTs = .836
288 of her points via 212 FG att = .679 effective FG% (288/424)

Yes, she's been on fire pretty much all year.  Though she's played 2nd most minutes of any Hope player, it's still only 21 mpg.  Hope's typically deep rotation usually prevents players from showing up on individual leaderboards.

[iwu70]

Millikin over Emory in round one, 76-70.   Knudsen with 27.

'70

[iwu70]

Millikin bows out in the round of 32, losing to #2 Transy 71-59.   Live by the three, die by the three.   Sadly, the Big Blue didn't play their best tonight and Transy is pretty good, esp. hitting 8 or 9 treys.   MU 2-12 or some such.   MU having a lot of trouble with Transy's zone. 

A great season for Olivia Lett and her squad.   Winning the CCIW regular season and tournament and going 1-1 in the D3 dance.  Congrats to Millikin.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Congratulations to the Big Blue on a great season.  Not the game Knudsen wanted tonight. 

[RogK]

Aside from Sophie Darden's 8 rebounds and Elyce Knudsen's 5, no other Millikin players topped 3 rebounds. That's the #1 reason they lost, in my view.
Of course, much credit to Transylvania.
32 teams were eliminated last evening and 16 more tonight, so, kind of a cruel weekend if you look at it sentimentally.
Nevertheless, congrats to the Big Blue for a fine season and hats off to those seniors who wrapped up their careers.

[RogK]

Given the lack of a rebuttal to my "32 teams..." sentence, I'll provide one :
RogK, sometimes you're a sentimental-case; it's better to have played in the tourney and lost than to not have played at all.

[iwu70]

RogK, I felt badly for MU and Knudsen too -- and you know I'm not normally a MU fan . . . but sad they couldn't play better against Transy.   Not the best time to have a subpar game.   Transy had something to do with it, sure -- but MU just didn't play up to their normal level.   I had high hopes for them at least getting to the second weekend, the Sweet Sixteen level with all they've had this year, all the experienced players they have.   Congrats to their seniors . . . a great run for them in CCIW play and getting to the tournament several years.  Knudsen will be back for her senior year and will perhaps have another D3 dance chance . . .though she loses a lot around her.   

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Looking ahead to the '23-'24 season, I am somewhat optimistic that Wheaton will be better.  The negatives of having a relatively young team this year becomes more of a positive next season with more experience. 

This is especially true for the freshman who joined this year and will have a season under their belt.   1st yr Anna Fernandez played the 2nd most minutes of anyone on the team and performed very well.  8.3 ppg, 5.5 reb/g are respectable and had a slightly positive assist/turnover ratio.  Her classmate Kate Oliver also had a very good first season.  I think that her ballhandling and overall athleticism gives her quite a bit of upside from this year's 9.0 ppg and 4.0 rebs.  However, she really needs to work on taking care of the ball.  Some careless dribbling and sloppy passing leading to her team leading 89 turnovers, 3.6 per game despite playing fewer minutes coming off the bench.

I suspect that Annie Tate, after basically missing two seasons, will be on the court next season as a grad student.  This is a bit of a wild card depending on how she comes back from injury.  Still, if she plays with just some of her prior form, this will help the Thunder ladies quite a bit as another scorer.

Lily Schwen, Caroline Sikkink, and Annika Richardson also return.

[scottiedawg]

I put together a table to extremely loosely "predict" the next year:


   
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

Team	Conf	Reg	RegRank	Win%	Top 25 Poll	Massey	NCAA Resume	Return	STAT	RANK
Wisconsin Lutheran	NACC	8	1	704	66	92	97	93%	4.61	27
Chicago	UAA	8	2	840	13	10	11	61%	3.81	34
Webster	SLIAC	8	3	885	100	48	52	81%	3.64	35
Westminster MO	SLIAC	8	4	615	100	145	126	98%	3.03	40
Augustana	CCIW	8	5	679	70	35	63	70%	2.02	51
Illinois Wesleyan	CCIW	8	6	593	53	34	140	75%	1.94	53
Millikin	CCIW	8	7	852	30	12	34	54%	1.90	54
Carroll	CCIW	8	8	654	62	30	117	72%	1.81	57
Transylvania	HCAC	8	9	1000	1	5	5	40%	1.50	64
WashU	UAA	8	10	680	35	24	18	55%	1.40	67
Aurora	NACC	8	11	808	100	131	105	81%	1.38	69
Hanover	HCAC	8	12	680	100	103	83	79%	1.31	70
Wheaton (IL)	CCIW	8	13	577	100	69	152	76%	0.05	87
St. Norbert	NACC	8	14	889	100	53	80	57%	(0.68)	98
Carthage	CCIW	8	15	346	100	127	179	83%	(0.80)	100
Mt. St. Joseph	HCAC	8	16	542	100	190	198	76%	(2.43)	124
Anderson IN	HCAC	8	17	583	100	168	166	66%	(3.18)	132
Greenville	SLIAC	8	18	720	100	142	77	50%	(3.67)	138

This is incredibly simplistic and does not include: Seniors returning for 5th year, transfers, recruits, role players getting bigger roles, coach ability, etc.

[iwu70]

IWU has a lot coming back for next year.  Key will be having Mallory Powers and Caite Knutson fully healthy . . . and the level of improvement of the rising sophomores, especially White, Mahlum and Balli.   I'd hope for a stronger year next year too from Kate Palmer.   She didn't have her best percentage shooting this season, so could improve greatly if she is put in the right position from the arc.  Huber will again be first-team All CCIW.   Amazing numbers this year, and likely next year, too. 

Always plenty of work to do in the off season, if really serious about contending for the conference title and getting a bid to March. 

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Final Four on the women's side set:  Transy, Rhode Island College, Christopher Newport, and Smith.   To be held in Hartford this time.   My bet is on Transy to go all the way and lift the trophy.   Stay tuned.

Let's hope CCIW women's basketball can regain its strength, have a greater national presence, next season.

IWU'70

[RogK]

Yep, the two semi-final games Saturday are in Hartford ("Hotfudd" locally?).
But the D3 and D2 WBB championship games will be in Dallas on April 1.

[scottiedawg]

Let's hope CCIW women's basketball can regain its strength, have a greater national presence, next season.

The bulk of the CCIW look to bring back a lot of their production, so I think there's a very good chance CCIW is much much better top to bottom next year.

Also there's the potential for change and upside with Carthage and Elmhurst turning over their head coach positions.