WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU moves to 2-2 on the year with a convincing win over Augsburg, 91-52.  An almost entirely different starting five today, with Coach Smith experimenting with various new players and combinations.  13 players played 10 minutes or more in this one.

IWU led 57-19 at the half, putting up an impressive first half.

Augsburg:

Stanford 12 and 13
Devine 11
Gallagher 11

29%, 20% from three, 65% FTs.

IWU:

Bri Harms off the bench, 21 on 9-10 shooting, 2-2 from three.
Hynes 13
Palmer 8 and 8

IWU winning the steals line 20-9, the rebounding line 53-35, and the TOs line 15-22.  Pretty impressive.

IWU at 49%, 41% from three, and 71% FTs.

The tough road trips continue next weekend with the normal Midwest Challenge tournament.  No respite. 

Again, this is a work in progress and will take time to really come together.  I continue to say I'll be happy if they come out of the pre-CCIW portion at .500 this season.  Seems better shooting this time and always a new player stepping up to show what they can do, leading the team in scoring.

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

Wheaton over Maryville (TN) in the final of the Beth Baker Classic, 53-55.

An incredible breakout game for sophomore Ann Stradinger with 21 pts on 8/15 shooting, 3/4 from three including some clutch baskets down the stretch when the Thunder needed one. She also did a nice job handling the ball, running the offense and has a good sense for the game.  Jenna Hunter added 15 and 5, while Claire Emery and Lydia Brogan came up with 9 boards each.

It was a tight game the whole way and nice to see the Thunder pull it out with good defense and start the season 4-0.  But scoring will still be a challenge like last year.  Even with good defense, if you can't get to 65+ pts with regularity it will be hard to get wins or be competitive.  That and still too many turnovers (an ongoing problem with Madsen teams).