WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congratulations to Christine Solari being named Player of the Week in the CCIW!  IWU becomes the first school with three different winners this year (it ain't just Mallory's team. )

Christine joins Darius Gant (men's PoW) for a Titan sweep.  Good week to be a proud alum!

[Hoosier Titan]

Thank you, Ralph!   

I was in error, Rog--Coach Bernero did shake hands with the IWU coaches and for some reason missed the team.  My bad.  Appearances deceived, and I clearly spoke too soon.

Looking forward to tomorrow night's matchups!  IWU and Millikin have established a nasty tradition of beating each other on home court, so that the home court advantage has almost become a disadvantage.   We'll see if that continues.  With Elmhurst at 4-4 and North Central at 3-5 their meeting is important for the fourth tournament spot (if we assume that Carthage, IWU, and Millikin are in the other three).

[Hoosier Titan]

Wow, what action on this board!  Welcome, Ralph and Mr. Ypsi!

I saw the news about Darius Gant earlier today, and just saw the Solari news now.  Rebounding was clearly the order of the day at Shirk last Saturday, with Darius hauling in 20 and Christina 11.  I promise to acknowledge the accomplishments of non-Titans as well (and we are about to head to the home court of the one-woman highlight film, Lindsay Ippel), but it was great to see those performances last weekend.

[Pat Coleman]

Then, after the game, he simply walked past the Titan team and coaches, spurning the traditional (and NCAA-sanctioned) handshake.

NCAA-sanctioned handshake? Huh?

[Hoosier Titan]

Then, after the game, he simply walked past the Titan team and coaches, spurning the traditional (and NCAA-sanctioned) handshake.

NCAA-sanctioned handshake? Huh?

Pat,

I quote from a pamphlet on the NCAA website entitled Report on the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit:

--The postgame handshakes among players are an important aspect of the game that student-athletes should
be allowed to engage in safely.

--NCAA championship policies in basketball require student-athletes from opposing teams to greet each other during formal introductions before games.   This policy should also be adopted by institutions and conferences for regular-season games.

Here's the link to the pamphlet:http://www.ncaa.org/sportsmanship/sportsmanshipFanBehavior/report.pdf

This does address the behavior of student-athletes more than that of coaches.  But I think most will agree that it is traditional, if not required, for coaches to go through the handshake line with their players.  I apologize again if I misinterpreted anyone's behavior.

[RogK]

Here are some conference-only stats:
                        2FG                     3FG
AUGIE     137/361 .380        21/67 .313
CARTH     167/333 .502       40/132 .303
ELMH      157/373 .421        48/137 .350
IWU        168/317 .530        61/200 .305
MILL       142/269 .528        53/117 .453
NC          155/348 .445        24/75 .320
NP          111/311 .357        28/100 .280
WHEAT   157/377 .416        23/89 .258

[Hoosier Titan]

We intended to go to Decatur tonight, but the torrential downpour and wind have given us a moat in the backyard and some interesting new uses for saucepans!  All I can report of the IWU visit to Millikin is what's in the box score; perhaps someone who was there can give more information.

Lindsay Ippel had her usual steady game for the Big Blue with 21 points, including a 3-pointer, and 5 rebounds.  Kelley Steers and Megan Mateer scored 13 each, while Andrea Riebock had 5 assists.  Mallory Heydorn led the Titans with 19 points, Crystal Dye had 17, and Christina Solari had another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Big Blue got off quicker, with a couple of 10 point leads in the first half.  The Titans managed to catch up by halftime for a 34 all tie, and then they managed to pull away at the end for a final score of 77-63.

Time to go empty the saucepans and check the weather map.  Looking forward to hearing the reports from around the conference!

[Jaywatch]

Elmhurst dominated North Central last night from start to finish, jumping out to a 15-2 early lead, and was up by 16 at half.  They built the lead up to 25 in the second half, and emptied the bench with about five minutes remaining.  Lyndsie Long had her usual outstanding game, scoring 19 on 7 of 11 shooting, and Brittany Bobruk turned in a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds despite having to sit early due to foul trouble.  For North Central, Brianne Parra came off the bench to score 18, and Barb Williams had 13 before fouling out with about eight minutes remaining.  Elmhurst clearly came to play; they shot over 50 percent for the game, played well in transition, and capitalized on NC's 19 turnovers with 33 points.  This was a big game for the Bluejays, giving them a two game lead for the fourth playoff spot with the season winding down.

[RogK]

Jaywatch, my favorite play from last night's game was when Lyndsie Long prevented a turnover through very quick thinking.
She was turning a corner and slipped, just as a pass was headed her way. While falling to the floor sideways, she reached out and batted the ball directly to a teammate. That's the sort of effort that makes Elmhurst such a fun team to watch.

[Jaywatch]

Rog, I wish I had seen more of their games last year so that I could compare the two squads.  It seems like Coach Forbes has transformed the team into one that focuses on hustle and defense.  Both Long and Bobruk were good players last year, and they are evolving into top notch players in the conference.  Candace Sutton can be very explosive at times.  I know Illinois Wesleyan got alot of pre-season press about their freshman class, but I don't believe any team in the conference plays as many freshman as Elmhurst.  Kelsey Monroe has stepped up as a solid starter, and usually defends the opponents top perimeter scorer.   She also has appeared on the conference leaders list in various categories (free throw percentage, steals, three point percentage, etc.).  Claire Gentry comes off the bench early and plays with alot of poise, and leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio.  Christine Randick has been playing well lately, and has been putting up some points.  Sarah Halbrader is a deadly three point shooter, and has had some nice scoring games.  There are others who play decent minutes, as well--Charnelle Harris and Anna Randazzo are both fast and very athletic, and show promise.  I think Coach Forbes and her staff have done a nice job putting together her experienced players with the youngsters, and they are all starting to jell together.

[Hoosier Titan]

Rog and Jaywatch,

Thanks for the update.  I am looking forward to seeing Elmhurst when they visit IWU in a couple of weeks.  It has seemed to me that a lot of the names I recognize from last year--Lyndsie Long, Brittany Bobruk, and Candace Sutton in particular--have become more productive this season.  Looks like Coach Forbes has accomplished a lot in her first year.

[RogK]

A little bit more on yesterday's action :
Rosie Dorn (another good freshman) led Carthage with 21 pts, 11 reb in their victory over North Park.
Wheaton got fairly balanced production from a lot of players in their win at Augustana. For Augie, freshman forward Jeanelle Strohmaier had her 4th straight good game off the bench, 9 pts 7 reb in 14:00; over those four games, she is 12/19 FG, 8/11 Ft, 32 pts and 18 reb in 55 minutes. Not bad.
IWU's Crystal Dye again had a nice pile of rebounds, nine (plus 17 pts) -- she's listed at 5'5" but plays like 5'11" (approximately).

[Jaywatch]

Here's a nice article about Augie's freshman Strohmaier as she was finishing up her high school career at Genoa-Kingston.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2007/02/06/sports/sports01.txt

[Hoosier Titan]

The IWU Titans visited King Arena yesterday to play the Wheaton Thunder and came away with a 68-59 win.  The Thunder got off to a quicker start, pulling away to a 25-15 lead as the Titan shots failed to drop.  With under 5:00 to go in the first half, the Titans seemed to come to life:  three 3-pointers by Claire Sheehan and two by Sarah Bull gave the Titans a 30-29 halftime edge.  Coach Mia Smith looked at the clock as the buzzer sounded and said, "We're ahead?"--indicative of the fast pace of the last few minutes.  (I think she was kidding!)

The Titans scored the first eight points of the second half, bringing the margin to 38-29, and then the Thunder went on a 9-2 run, cutting the margin to 40-38.  After that, Sarah Bull hit a key 3-pointer, and the lead was never less than five.

Individual performances:  Sheehan stood out for the Titans, with 23 points (7-14 overall, and 4-9 on 3s), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.  Other starters Mallory Heydorn, Sarah Bull, and Crystal Dye all scored in double figures, and while center Christina Solari (who scored 19 in the teams' first meeting) was held to 4 points, she brought down a game-high 15 rebounds.  Kathleen Fidelia led the Thunder with 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals, and other starters Sarah Jones and Claire Glass scored in double figures and netted 9 and 8 rebounds, respectively.  The rebounding totals were dead equal at 42 each, although Wheaton held an edge in offensive boards.  A solid, well-coached performance by both teams.

The trip back down I-55 was more interesting than usual due to high winds, with nasty gusts, often due to passing cars, trucks, and overpasses.  Thank goodness there was no snow!

[RogK]

Glad ya got back safely, Hoosier Titan! Sounds like Claire Sheehan had a very fine game. She can score from all over the floor.
With yesterday's results, the CCIW standings have symmetry :
IWU    9-1
Carth  8-2
Mill      7-3
EC      6-4
NC      4-6
Whe   3-7
Aug    2-8
NP      1-9

North Central triumphed over Carthage 65-55. Barb Williams poured in 28 pts and had 10 rebs. Gia Navarra also grabbed 10. Brianne Parra contributed her customary 19 pts and 7 rebs. Perhaps most important for the Cardinals, they had only 10 turnovers.
Millikin had a 44-19 half and won over Augustana 77-55. Lindsay Ippel made sure of the outcome, hitting 14/18 FGs and 6/8 FTs for an impressive 34 pts.
Elmhurst got past North Park 66-50.
The composite 2FG shooting was a bleak 28/110 (EC 21-67 and NP 7/43).
The Bluejay defense induced 38 Viking turnovers.
In the midst of that, NP's Andrea Perez had her best game yet : 21 pts, 3 blocks, 4 steals and 6 rebs.
North Park asks a lot from a few players. LaRae Kostreva and Stylianee Damianides deserve multiple pats on the head for all the tiring minutes they've played. Amanda Phillips has valiantly persevered with at least one bad foot all year.
Those three can return next season, but Perez and forward Crissy Komperda can't. The Vikings need lots of help for '08-09 if they intend to compete with the upper level of the conference.