WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

I'll be at the NC-NP game which I'd like to be 106-105, but that's probably not realistic.

And I'll be at the NCC-NPU game, which I hope does not end up 106-105, because that would create way too much stress on my vocal cords. I'm a broadcaster, not an auctioneer.

[iwu70]

Of course, I'll be cheering for WC over CC . . . to keep the CCIW race closer.  Should be a really good game as, has been mentioned, both teams playing well at this point.

IWU70

[RogK]

Periodically, I write the dumb sentence here. It occurs to me that a recent one was to say that the league is learning not to underestimate North Park. I should have written that the league is getting to see firsthand that NP is a rather good team. And I certainly was inaccurate to imply that Wheaton's Coach Madsen had underestimated them. In fact, he has told me several times this season that it's tough to get any and all wins in CCIW play. Even their substantial win over NC required a large effort.

[iwu70]

Being back in HK, I seem to be blocked from some sites now, including the IWU sports page website and the cciw.org website, so can't see scores etc.   

Did the IWU women win today at MU?

Am listening to WBJC and the men's game just fine.  Titan men again playing very well. 

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mark, IWU 72, Millikin 67.

Raise you hand if anyone here thought they would ever see a Millikin team start the conference 0-6 while Lori Kerans was still coaching.  No hands?  Thought so.

[iwu70]

OK, no worry, heard the score on JBC, as the Titan women win in a tough one, I think it was 72-67 over MU, with Katy Seibring having another career night with 30 points.  More later.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Ypsi, thanks.  Yes, MU having a very tough start in conference play.  Katy Seibring is quickly becoming an all-conference player.

IWU70

[Backseat Driver]

Mark, IWU 72, Millikin 67.

Raise you hand if anyone here thought they would ever see a Millikin team start the conference 0-6 while Lori Kerans was still coaching.  No hands?  Thought so.

Raise your hand if anyone here thought Carthage would beat Wheaton by 32. I sure didn't.

This was the first time I've seen Carthage this year, and the Lady Reds looked awfully good this evening (I watched the video). Stephanie Kuzmanic was brilliant, she controlled the tempo of the game, found open teammates for shots, and knocked down a good amount of her own.

I think Wheaton is a pretty good team. And Carthage just completely dominated this game tonight from start to finish. Wheaton didn't shoot well, but Carthage was making it pretty hard to get good looks at the basket. Wheaton defended pretty well, but the Lady Reds ball movement and patience was impressive. I didn't see many rushed shots by Carthage, they used the shot clock, kept the ball and the offense moving, and eventually got a good look.

Is it a tough loss for Wheaton? No doubt. But I don't think there's much shame in losing to a really good team that played a flawless game on its home court. The Thunder will hopefully take this as a learning curve and bounce right back up.

And Carthage? They sure looked like a Top 25 team to my eyes.

[mr_b]

I'll be at the NC-NP game which I'd like to be 106-105, but that's probably not realistic.

And I'll be at the NCC-NPU game, which I hope does not end up 106-105, because that would create way too much stress on my vocal cords. I'm a broadcaster, not an auctioneer.

Well, you got your wish, sort of: 102-101 for NCC.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 102
North Park 101

Shaina Yalda: 16 pts, 11 asts, 5 rebs (3 to)
Kamauria Acree: 15 pts, 9 rebs, 6 asts
Nicole Kruckman: 12 pts
Dominikque Williams: 11 pts
Kayla McCall: 10 pts
Dana Christensen: 5 rebs
Soly Roman: 5 rebs
Becca Heimsath: 5 rebs

Callie Rezin: 19 pts
Kelsey Cooling: 14 pts
Larynn Shumaker: 13 pts, 5 rebs
Maryssa Cladis: 10 pts
Lauren Hernandez: 10 pts
Michelle Todd: 8 rebs

The "close, but no cigar" CCIW season continues for NPU. Only now the Vikings have dug a pretty deep hole, and with very formidable Carthage coming up on Wednesday, the Park could be in serious trouble of getting pushed so far down in the standings that NPU won't make the CCIW tourney.

NCC led most of the afternoon, with the Cards up by as much as 12 in a first half in which the Vikings looked shell-shocked and mentally taken out of the game by the Cardinals press; NPU turned the ball over 19 times in the first half, as NCC went into the locker room ahead, 51-40.

The second half was more of the same, with the Cards leading by 10 at the 13:14 mark before the Vikings finally started to chip away at the lead. An 8-0 NPU run cut the Cards' lead to 67-65 with 10:25 to go, and it would remain close the rest of the way. NPU took three brief leads between the nine- and seven-minute marks, but couldn't sustain the effort, as the turnovers began piling up again and the Cards got to all of the long rebounds and caused lots of NPU fouls, all because the Cards had relatively fresh legs while the Vikings were noticeably tiring.

NCC was up by eight, 97-89, with 2:53 remaining when Cards coach Michelle Roof decided to discard the press and go to a straight defense while holding the ball on offense in order to drain the clock. It was a strategy that almost backfired, as the Vikings got treys from Dana Christensen and Kayla McCall to bring NPU within two. After a pair of Bobbi Johns FTs with 18 seconds left, McCall hit another trey to put the Park down by one with nine seconds left. However, NCC ran a good inbounds play that got Johns free up the far sideline to elude a fouler and run out the clock.

NCC shot poorly from downtown (8-40), but was able to successfully get to the rim and score quite a bit, especially as NPU's legs grew weary, as the Cards hit on 40% from the field for the game. NPU did what it was supposed to do offensively, avoiding shooting the trey until late in the game (but hitting 5-7 of them, anyway), and making 58% of its shots from the field. The problem was that NPU just ran out of gas; not enough ballhandlers for the Vikes, who could've used more of Bridgette Gray (she made her season debut tonight, but was in the game for less than a minute; she's not fully ready yet, apparently). Credit NCC for not folding every time that the Vikings made a run, and for, in the end, simply outlasting the Park.

As I said, NPU is now in a deep hole with the Lady Reds coming to town on Wednesday. I don't know if the Vikings can dig their way out of it.

[thunder38]

I'll venture a guess on the Wheaton-Carthage game Rog. 67-59.

I like that guess, but for the sake of originality I'll say 69-61. 

Well between us we averaged the winning score. That's a pretty big dud for the Thunder. Wheaton is looking more and more like Jeckyl and Hyde. The only plus tonight was it was nice to see Maris Hovee back for a couple of minutes as she works her way back from a bout with mono. NPU has a chance to tighten things up again on Wednesday but by all means Carthage has a headlock on the rest of the conference as we head for the home stretch.

[Backseat Driver]

http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2013/1/19/Womens_Basketball_0119134646.aspx

“Maybe I'm underestimating my own team,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  “After we stumbled a little bit over Christmas break, our defense has really improved.  I think those December losses hardened us to a degree.  We're not the biggest team, but we're pretty tough and physical inside.  We're not the biggest team on the perimeter, but we get to the right sports, and that's gratifying.  We make it really hard for the other team to score.  Not in my wildest dreams did I think we were going to beat a 13-2 team by 30 points.  We're still long way from the end, but we're looking pretty good right now.  Erin Quinn was great tonight. She just gets better and better, and she took advantage of her opportunity in this game.  Wheaton is missing some people, and I'm sure by the time we play them next, they'll be looking to get even.  Everyone we've played so far will be coming for us in the second half and coming hard.”

We don't have anyone who regularly posts about Carthage, and as a result we haven't really had much by way of eyewitness accounts of the Lady Reds this year. Maybe their double-digit win in Bloomington or their stifling of Elmhurst should have served notice, but I had no idea how good this Carthage team is until yesterday. I think they're the most complete team in the CCIW right now, as far as being able to consistently score and stop the opponent from scoring.

Coach Bernero is right though, in that the second half of the conference schedule will bring stiffer challenges. IWU has essentially been reinventing itself midseason due to personnel changes and Wheaton has been missing it's starting frontcourt for a good chunk of the first half. Carthage hasn't played North Park yet, but the Vikings have had to deal with significant injuries in conference play as well. But having a two-game lead at this point certainly has Carthage firmly in the driver's seat for the regular season conference title.

[RogK]

Elmhurst topped Augie 69-61. Tess Godhardt was a star, scoring 24 (9/12, 6/8) along with 9 rebs. Fiona McMahon had 21 rebs. Karen Senette made 4/6 threes and only 1 TO. Augie got 16 pts from Gianna Pecora and 15 from Molly Etheridge.
The 102-101 game was good fun (for the fans; the coaches may have had some stress!). Both sides were missing a prominent player (Swanson, Peterson), but their minutes were used well by others.
To add a little to what Greg wrote, lots of players on both teams played well. The NC style of play allows opportunities for many to shine (or mess up). I want to add a brief pat on the head for NC's Michelle Todd; her 8 defensive rebs and 4 steals were very important for the Cardinals' cause.
Another Cardinal who is improving game-by-game is Callie Rezin. I can't remember if she played any point guard prior to this year, but she's getting more and more comfortable with those duties. She along with Bobbi Johns and Amanda Hoye give NC an energetic and effective trio at that position.
North Park, despite two narrow losses, remains in the thick of the conference playoff race.

[iwu70]

Yes, Carthage surely in the driver's seat now.  Somebody has to pin a loss on them soon, or they will run away with the conference crown.  Second time 'round games will be more competitive, I believe, as teams find their stretch run rotations, hopefully stay healthy, and also consider ways to stop, slow down Carthage.  We'll see.  IWU has to just keep grinding away at wins, winning all the games possible, and taking their shot at WC, NP and CC when they have the second chance to tighten up the race.  I'm pretty confident the Titans will be in the top four and have a good shot at getting on a good role once the Conference tournament comes round.  Sure do wish the Titans still had the services of Shelby Jackson and Kaitlyn Mullarkey going down the stretch, but that is not to be . . .

Gardner playing well, and Katy Seibring has now had some monster games in Conference play. 

IWU70

[Pat Coleman]

Being back in HK, I seem to be blocked from some sites now, including the IWU sports page website and the cciw.org website, so can't see scores etc.   

Did the IWU women win today at MU?

Am listening to WBJC and the men's game just fine.  Titan men again playing very well. 

IWU70

We have a scoreboard as well. If CCIW schools reported scores to D3hoops.com more reliably (some do), you wouldn't have to ask those questions.