WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

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[bearsfan]

I would say that as far as the CCIW getting more than 1 team in, it would have to involve IWU losing in the conference tournament. In order to be eligible for the Pool C bids, the team would have to be ranked in the final Central regional rankings and I would suspect that with their prior regional loses(13-5 overall with QOWI of 9.556), Wheaton would be a long shot to get into the rankings and Millikin's lose to Wheaton last night definitely hurt their chances eventhough they are close to 10 QOWI with the loss and 15-4 in region.

The top 4 (Lake Forest, UW-Stout, IWU, and Carroll) in the current rankings are in fairly solid shape and probably won't fall out barring disaster down the stretch, but the last two weeks of the UAA season features Wash U and Chicago head-to-head as well as both teams playing Rochester on the road so if either team was to drop those two games, they may very well fall out and Millikin have a chance to take the last spot if they go deep in the CCIW tourney. Especially if Chicago drops two as it would mean they would finish the season with loses in 7 of the last 9 games with them all being regional contests. I think the likely candidates for an open 6th spot would probably be Millikin or UW-Whitewater/UW-Eau Claire.

[Fawkes316]

I agree that Wheaton's chances are hurt by a slow start when Elizabeth Fox was injured. With five losses in region a sixth would make it hard for them to get a Pool C. On the other hand, it would be hard to see Millikin go as a pool C instead, given that Wheaton would have swept the season series with them (I guess there is still an outside shot that Wheaton could face Millikin in the first round of the tournament).

Wheaton has won 8 straight, including back-to-back wins against IWU and Millikin. If they win their last two regular season games, and win the conference tourney, they would be a tough out in the NCAAs.

By the way, Wheaton's semi-annual Alumni Game is tomorrow morning at 11 am. Former All-Americans Kerry Cole and Nicole Merchant are supposed to play, along with players like Rachel Horgen, Sara Kurtz, Irene Kim and others. It's usually a pretty fun time...Men's basketball coaches Owen Handy and Nate Frank are going to officiate.

[Mr. Ypsi]

bearsfan,

In terms of the last regional rankings that we will see, it is not technically true that a team must be ranked to be eligible (though, in reality, I can't recall a team making it who wasn't).  The selection committee works from a last-last regional ranking that we don't see; reportedly it is longer than the published ones just in case a region goes through all their teams.

I think Wheaton has a near-zero chance of a C (even though at this moment they are quite possibly the best team in the league), but Millikin may be on at least the low-side of the bubble.  If they keep winning right up to the tourney final, they would finish 18(?)-5 in-region with a QOWI of about 10.  That's borderline, but definitely possible.

While I certainly would not want to bet on it, the conference might even get three teams: if Millikin beats IWU in the semi, then loses in the final.  The victor (presumably Wheaton, but whoever) is the AQ, IWU would still be a fairly safe bet for a C, and Millikin at least has a shot.

But I'm only a CCIW guy once the field is set.  Until then, go Titans, even if it costs us a team or two!

[Titan Q]

IWU's best player, Mallory Heydorn, is done for the year...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/02/17/sports/doc45d66704462e8178421528.txt

What a blow.

[Hoosier Titan]

IWU's best player, Mallory Heydorn, is done for the year...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/02/17/sports/doc45d66704462e8178421528.txt

What a blow.

[Hoosier Titan]

Oops...sorry about that.  Just a little bit upset here!

What a season...Brianna Baker-Carvell out with an ACL before the start, then Christina Solari, necessitating the four-guard offense.  Mia Smith has made outstanding use of her players so far.  She (and they) have worked near-miracles so far.  Hopefully they can work a few more.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IF Carthage loses at Wheaton, Carthage and North Park will tie for fourth at 7-7.  Since they split against each other, and each would be 0-6 against Wheaton, IWU, and Millikin and 6-0 against everyone else, and each would be 3-4 on the road and 4-5 for their last nine games, would making the tournament be based on a coin flip?  I can't find the tie-break rules on the CCIW site, but I think I covered everything prior to flipping a coin.  Anyone?

[Fawkes316]

Ypsi-There is one more before the coin flip. The final tiebreaker is point differential in head-to-head matchups. Carthage won by 3 and North Park won by 1, though it's my understanding that a three by North Park was controversily waved off at the buzzer in their win. So, here are the seeds

#1-Wheaton will play #4-Carthage at 6pm on Friday. #2-IWU (Possible tiebreak in their favor based on split with Wheaton, and Millikin losing two), will play #3-Millikin at 8pm.

Both games will be played at King Arena. The Final will be played at 2 pm on Saturday.

[Mr. Ypsi]

OK, right - I just re-read Greg's postings after the second NPU-Carthage game.  He was quite prescient that NPU's whole season may have prematurely ended on an easily reviewable judgment call.

If photographic evidence surfaces that the call was in error (and these days, if such evidence exists, it WILL surface!), that would totally be a shame.  (Though the way Wheaton is playing now, either Carthage or NPU likely would only have their season extended by one game anyway, but that IS why they play the games!)

[For the record, I don't like point-differential as a tie-breaker in bball (it's fine in a low-scoring game like soccer), as it potentially penalizes sportsmanship.  Let's say you're up 5 with 10 seconds to go in the first meeting - you're gonna feel pretty stupid if you do the right thing and dribble out the clock, then your opponent wins the rematch by 6!]

[Hoosier Titan]

Yesterday's North Park-IWU game was enjoyable to watch.  The Titans, playing without usual point guard Mallory Heydorn who watched with her broken hand in a cast, got off to a shaky start and North Park shot off to a 12-point lead in the first six minutes or so.  The Titans made a comeback, sparked by Claire Sheehan and Crystal Dye, to draw even and they finally pulled ahead in the last minute of the first half to take a 31-29 lead into the locker room. 

The second half featured five more ties; every time it looked as though one team had momentum the other side made a big play to pull things close again.  The final stats were as close as can be:  The Vikings shot 41.5% for the game to the Titans' 39.2%; rebounding was Vikings 32, Titans 33; free throws were Vikings 15/16, Titans 18/22.  Evie Peterson and Laura Mount both had 18 for the Vikings, while for the Titans Claire Sheehan had 18, Sarah Bull 15, and Crystal Dye 12.  Dye led all rebounders with 8.  For the Titans, Tasha Gaston-Bell did a nice job at the point and chipped in 6 points, and Becky Kiverts contributed big in the post with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

It was a strong, balanced performance for both teams as the final margin of 64-63 indicated.  Well done to both teams.

[Hoosier Titan]

[For the record, I don't like point-differential as a tie-breaker in bball (it's fine in a low-scoring game like soccer), as it potentially penalizes sportsmanship.  Let's say you're up 5 with 10 seconds to go in the first meeting - you're gonna feel pretty stupid if you do the right thing and dribble out the clock, then your opponent wins the rematch by 6!]

I agree, and I'm not sure about it in soccer either, especially at the higher levels where scoring is not so difficult.  It's no fun seeing teams run up 6-0 victories just for the sake of goal differential, but that's for another forum.

I guess in the basketball scenario, score differential is preferable to only, well, flipping a coin.  Bravo to players and coaches (and CCIW posters!) who keep these things in their heads in the last seconds of a close game.

[Fawkes316]

Wheaton clinched at least a share of its third straight CCIW Championship. The seniors and Trenz have put together quite a run of success for the Thunder. Before this current group of players arrived, Wheaton had won only 3 championships, and had a string of coming up second to Millikin (and Wesleyan once) that was rather unpleasant. It will be hard to replace Fox and Cooper who have been huge contributors to the team's success.

Brittany Cooper scored her 1,000th point on Thursday and became only the second player in Wheaton College history to have at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, and 175 steals. The other was All-American Stephanie Clark (granted she scored 1,700 in her career, but pretty good company anyway.)  Those stats are courtesy of Wheaton's eminent SID Brett Marhanka.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's hard-luck season drew to a close on Saturday afternoon. They put on a brave performance, but for the second year in a row they fell by one point to Illinois Wesleyan in a game that ended their season. Last year it was in the first round of the CCIW tourney, this year it was in their must-win final game of the regular season.

As soon as I read that Mallory Heydorn was hurt, I had a sinking feeling as a Vikings fan. I've all-too-often seen teams rally and push themselves to a higher level when their star is out for a crucial game. In fact, it happened to North Park last week on the men's side of things as well, as Carthage somehow managed to muster a vital win over the Vikings in spite of the fact that the Red Men's best player, Brian Schlemm, was watching the game in street clothes due to a twisted ankle.

Kudos to all five Vikings seniors -- Cassie Christensen, Alex Coleman, Lauren Martin, Laura Mount, and Anna Mueller -- for their efforts and contributions over the past few seasons. They were appreciated, and they will be missed.

Laura Mount ends her North Park career with 1,204 points, passing former teammate Shandrel Young in Saturday's game in Bloomington. That puts her fifth on NPU's all-time scoring leaderboard, trailing Rachel Pearson Bernero (1,784), Terry Haller (1,515), Barb Dunn (1,489), and Andrea Mendyk (1,224). Not bad company for a player in a slowdown, defense-oriented program who was teammates for three years with a couple of other members of the Thousand Point Club. Congratulations to Laura!

Congratulations as well to NPU junior forward Evie Peterson, whose 2-2 performance from the line against Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday put her at .902 (47-52) from the charity stripe in CCIW play this season. She thus breaks the all-time CCIW single-season record for FT percentage previously held by Carthage's Jenny Olson, who set the old record of .900 back in 2000-01.

In fact, North Park's .802 (210-262) team FT percentage is a new CCIW single-season record as well. It breaks the old record of .782 (214-274) set last season by Illinois Wesleyan.

Ypsi-There is one more before the coin flip. The final tiebreaker is point differential in head-to-head matchups. Carthage won by 3 and North Park won by 1, though it's my understanding that a three by North Park was controversily waved off at the buzzer in their win.

No, Anna Mueller's buzzer shot was only a two-pointer. The point differential between Carthage and NPU would've been tied if her shot had counted.

OK, right - I just re-read Greg's postings after the second NPU-Carthage game.  He was quite prescient that NPU's whole season may have prematurely ended on an easily reviewable judgment call.

If photographic evidence surfaces that the call was in error (and these days, if such evidence exists, it WILL surface!), that would totally be a shame.  (Though the way Wheaton is playing now, either Carthage or NPU likely would only have their season extended by one game anyway, but that IS why they play the games!)

I don't agree at all, Chuck. Wheaton beat NPU by three both times that the two teams met this season. In both games, NPU had a trey attempt at the buzzer that would've sent the game into OT if it had gone in (Laura Mount attempted it at King Arena, Lauren Martin attempted it at the crackerbox).

Wheaton was indeed the hottest team in the league at the end of the season, but discounting the Vikings' chances in a theoretical third game between the two teams would not only be presumptuous, it flies in the face of the available evidence in terms of the two previous contests.

[Fawkes316]

So, it still would have come down to the coin flip.

North Park always plays Wheaton tough, so you are probably right, it would have been a close game.

Wheaton now has to play Carthage tonight to get the championship outright, and to keep any hope of a Pool C alive (not much hope). Then they will play them again on Friday. This is the same scenario as last season. I was worried last year about seeing the same team twice, but Wheaton started playing really great basketball which lasted into the NCAAs. They are showing signs of that kind of play recently, but the Elmhurst game was a little ugly.