WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Started by wheatonc, March 03, 2005, 06:18:19 PM

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iwu70

IWU opens its campaign tomorrow in Chicago, playing Colorado College at 5 p.m.

Likely starting line-up:

Ehresman
McGraw
Shanks
Scheider
Merritt

It will be interesting to see what the rotation is and which of the newbies steps up to really contribute regular minutes. 

Good luck to Coach Smith, all the staff and all the players . . . as the journey begins.

IWU'70

iwu70


iwu70

My guess on key rotational players would be Jr. Nina Anderson and the two freshmen, Riley Brovelli and Raven Hughes. 

Time will tell as the pre-CCIW season unfolds, as Coach Smith experiments with various combinations.

IWU'70

Gregory Sager

This is about as in-the-dark as I have been about the North Park women's basketball team as I have been in many years. I've been so busy lately that I was unable to watch any scrimmages or look in on a practice; I need to have a conversation with the coaches before tomorrow's opener against St. Mary's (IN) so that I have an idea what to look for in this largely new-look Vikings team.

This is something of a fresh-start season for NPU, as over half of the roster consists of newcomers. Gone is a lot of talent in terms of surefire future Viking Hall of Famer Liz Rehberger, highly-capable support player Amani Davis, and shooter Hannah Rehfeldt. But the teams that they led over the past few seasons consistently underachieved and tended to have a sense to them that there was less there than met the eye. They must have been as frustrating for Amanda Crockett to coach as they were for Vikings fans to watch. This season, on the other hand, comes with no expectations at all. I have no idea from whom the Vikings will find their points, or their rebounds, or their defense -- and I think that I'm OK with that. Just the idea of a fresh start with any positive production at all coming as a pleasant surprise seems like enough for now. As long as they're playing hard, enjoying themselves, and making some progress from one game to the next, I'll be fine with it.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

RogK

Greg, I'm trying to recall if it was Harry Hoo of Get Smart who said "he who expects little is seldom disappointed."
I thought NP would look to Emmy Gryna for scoring this year, but she is absent from the roster.
Surely, the Vikings need seniors Lippert, Sloan and Ramos to be consistently assertive and have their best seasons. We know junior Gabby Sandoval will give it all she's got.
I saw the scrimmage vs Dominican and was fairly impressed by one medium-sized (5'9"?) newcomer who drove to the hoop several times. Not sure who she is on the roster, but she may be someone who'll shoot a lot of FTs.
I may get over there on Saturday; tomorrow I'll likely check out Wheaton and North Central in the tourney at Wheaton.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: RogK on November 16, 2017, 11:33:26 PMGreg, I'm trying to recall if it was Harry Hoo of Get Smart who said "he who expects little is seldom disappointed."
I thought NP would look to Emmy Gryna for scoring this year, but she is absent from the roster.

I don't think Gryna came back to NPU this year.

Quote from: RogK on November 16, 2017, 11:33:26 PMSurely, the Vikings need seniors Lippert, Sloan and Ramos to be consistently assertive and have their best seasons.

I think that Shaylee Sloan is the key. She's always had the talent to be an outstanding inside scorer and rebounder in the CCIW, but she, too, has been an underachiever. If her work ethic and maturity have improved, she could have a special senior season. But one never wants to assume that something like that will happen; to be honest, it usually doesn't. You usually know who and what a player is in terms of internal makeup by her or his junior season, although nobody who doesn't sit in a chair on the NPU sideline will be happier than me if Shaylee takes the bull by the horns this season and has an All-CCIW kind of year. I think that Brie Lippert and Clarissa Ramos are really more cast in the role-player mold, although I certainly wouldn't object if either or both of them proved me wrong as seniors, either.

Quote from: RogK on November 16, 2017, 11:33:26 PMWe know junior Gabby Sandoval will give it all she's got.

Yes, we do. I just hope that she doesn't wear herself out trying to do everything all by herself, as it seemed was the case too often last year for Liz Rehberger.

Quote from: RogK on November 16, 2017, 11:33:26 PMI saw the scrimmage vs Dominican and was fairly impressed by one medium-sized (5'9"?) newcomer who drove to the hoop several times. Not sure who she is on the roster, but she may be someone who'll shoot a lot of FTs.
I may get over there on Saturday; tomorrow I'll likely check out Wheaton and North Central in the tourney at Wheaton.

Alas, alackaday, you're not likely to see me on Saturday, as I'll be over at Hedstrand Field calling soccer matches, since NPU is hosting (and participating in) the D3 men's soccer sectionals.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

lmitzel

North Central dropped its opener to Louisiana College 77-71. They were up 16-15 after one, but the bottom fell out in the second quarter and it was a 16 point deficit at halftime. The Cardinals managed to get within theee, but no closer.

I'll have to actually look at a box score, but too many easy layups, too many second chance points. Lake Forest on the docket tomorrow.
Official D-III Championship BeltTM Cartographer
2022 CCIW Football Pick 'Em Co-Champion
#THREEEEEEEEE

iwu70

IWU opens big over Colorado College, 96-63.

McGraw 26
Merritt 16
Freshman Raven Hughes 11
Ehresman and Shanks leading in RBs.
Ehresman running the show, 1 TO  :) 

Typical IWU win -- 44 points off 32 TOs.

Could be a very good year.

Up next, University of Chicago, the tournament host, tomorrow.  Olivia Lett Assistant Coach now at UC.

Great start TITANS.  Keep it rolling.

IWU'70


Gregory Sager

Solid start for NPU today, albeit against a St. Mary's (IN) team that isn't going to scare anybody. The Vikings prevailed, 76-48, aided in large part by 24 Belles turnovers that included 13 Vikings steals. Gabby Sandoval led the way with 13, while Clarissa Ramos contributed 11 and freshman Lauryn Alba Garner added 10. Shaylee Sloan was a beast on the boards, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.

NPU has a number of newbies that look like they have a lot of potential. The two smaller guards, Alba Garner and Zakiya Newsome, are lightning-quick, and fellow frosh guard Sinead Molloy looks like a promising player as well at both ends of the floor. Expectations should remain modest for this season, but this could be the starting point towards a hopeful future for NPU.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

iwu70

IWU off to a great start.  2-0 after taking down #22 U Chicago, 77 - 56

Ehreshman 17
Merritt 14
McGraw 10
Good contributions from the rotation, esp Hughes, 10 rebs.

IWU holding UC to 25% shooting, on great D.
23 points off 21 UC TOs.  Sound familiar?

Great first weekend.

IWU has Wi-WW up next.  A great schedule to get ready for the long CCIW run.

IWU'70

iwu70


RogK

Carthage topped Bethel Univ (Minnesota) 77-68 on Friday, a game in which 55 fouls were called.
The Lady Reds' Morgan Harris had 14 pts, 12 rebs and 4 assists; Bailey Gilbert and Autumn Kalis also scored 14, while Madie Kaelber tallied 17.
Three Carthage players fouled out (along with two from Bethel).
The three Lady Reds who fouled out are good players, so I think it made sense to play them their maximum, taking the chance that they might pick up a 5th foul. Of course, if any were committing dumb foul after dumb foul, Coach Bernero would sit them sooner.
I've seen some coaches (college and high school) who essentially foul out their own good players when they reach 4 fouls, sitting them down for long stretches and losing whatever positive play they may have contributed before (potentially, maybe never) picking up a 5th foul.
That concludes my little sermon on that subject.
Of Carthage's 77 pts, 24 were FTs, 32 came from 2FGs and 21 came from 3FGs.
Carthage continued its good start on Saturday, defeating Cornell, 68-56, including a 27-4 1st quarter.
Madie Kaelber again scored 17; Bailey Gilbert added 15 (via only 9 shots) and 7 rebs. Rachel Szydlowski led with 8 rebs.
Carthage got 12 pts from FTs, 26 from 2FGs and 30 from 3FGs.

GoPerry

Wheaton had a fairly easy time winning the Beth Baker Classic with a 74-57 win over Lake Forest followed by a 89-56 victory over Louisiana College.  The Thunder were led by Kelly Lawson(17 pts) and Maggie Dansdill(16 pts, 6 rebs) on Friday and again by Dansdill (16 pts, 5 rebs, 2 stls) and newcomer Hannah Frazier(20 pts, 7rebs) on Saturday. 

It's fair to say the team was not really challenged much this weekend.  Even so, it was nice to see the new team  play after losing such notable players to graduation.  I think one difference we'll see this year is that the team will not be nearly as guard-centric and not just because Katie McDaniels and Chantal Meacham have moved on.   A backcourt of Kelly Lawson, Maggie Dansdill  and Jordan Myroth will very nicely pick up that slack.   But with the key addition of 6'2" Hannah Frazier and the return of Jennifer Berg from injury last year, they join stalwart 6'2" Devin Kyler and 6'2" Jill Berg to form a front court with size and skill that will be really difficult for teams to match. 

RogK

GoPerry, I concur with you that things look pretty good for the Thunder this season.
I saw about 37:00 of their debut (left to catch an eastbound Metra) on Friday and was impressed by Wheaton's size and game-impacting abilities across all positions. In addition to what you noted, Devin Kyler had a very good all-around game and looked comfortable playing defense away from the basket. Her athleticism and length will frequently disrupt opponents' efforts.
Without McDaniels and Meacham, they may commit a few more turnovers, but likely not a big problem.
Looking at yesterday's Wheaton stats, even when a starter has a crummy shooting day, others filled in, such as Jill Berg scoring 13 pts in 9:00 or Kristi Demski with 9 pts in 14:00.
A few comments on the first game Friday at Wheaton : I thought North Central players often looked uncertain about what to do in their loss to Louisiana College. Louisiana also had an overall skill advantage. NC has veered away from the System; I was (almost) alarmed when they declined to shoot some open 3s early in some possessions, although they did end up with 33 3FG att. They were generally patient on offense, but must be learning numerous new halfcourt plays. Defensively, they occasionally pressed, but were a little stand-offish doing it.
NC is clearly trying something new, while retaining aspects of what they've done in recent years. This transition probably requires several/many games before showing impressive results. I'm disappointed that the CCIW no longer has a System team; their games always brought out the best athleticism of both teams, sometimes very fun and entertaining, although sometimes sloppy. I'll have to again rely on NAIA Olivet Nazarene for a "System fix" and will do so Tuesday at Roosevelt Univ.
It was very good to see NC's Mayson Whipple return to action, following her major leg injury of a year ago. It may take a few more games, but hopefully she'll regain her status as one of the league's most energetic talented players.

RogK

Augie improved to 2-0 with an 80-71 win over Coe; the Vikings scored the first 11 pts of the contest and led 26-8 after 1 period. Justice Edell had 15 pts (5/8 2FG, 5/7 FT) and 3 steals.
Izzy Anderson had 14 pts, Victoria Allen had 7 rebs, Scooter Lopez had 5 steals.
Millikin split a pair of games : 83-67 over Greenville, lost 84-78 to Westminster. Devin Curry is averaging 20.5, 5 assists and 4 rebs. Emily Schultz is at 18 ppg and 4 rebs/g.
The Big Blue has a good .536 eFG% so far.