WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Lauren Huber will be greatly missed.  What an amazing athletic career at IWU -- All-American in basketball and track & field, too.  A great leader, a great person.   

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

NCC's non-conference schedule is out.

11/7 vs St. Mary's
11/11 @ Concordia Chicago
11/14 @ Lawrence
11/22 vs Edgewood
11/25 @ Benedictine
11/29 @ Concordia Wisconsin
12/17 vs Illinois College
12/19 @ Rockford
12/30 vs Aurora

This does not include another exhibition at Maggie McCloskey-Bax's alma mater of Loyola Chicago or a Halloween scrimmage with Loras.

[scottiedawg]

North Park published today.

[lmitzel]

I know I posted this on football/men's basketball too, but 10/10 no notes, CCIW.

https://cciw.org/news/2025/8/26/general-cciw-partners-with-hudl-to-launch-cciw-network.aspx

[GusD]

NCC's non-conference schedule is out.

11/7 vs St. Mary's
11/11 @ Concordia Chicago
11/14 @ Lawrence
11/22 vs Edgewood
11/25 @ Benedictine
11/29 @ Concordia Wisconsin
12/17 vs Illinois College
12/19 @ Rockford
12/30 vs Aurora

This does not include another exhibition at Maggie McCloskey-Bax's alma mater of Loyola Chicago or a Halloween scrimmage with Loras.

Rumor has it that for the 10/31 scrimmage vs Loras, the teams will wear 🎃 costumes rather than their regular practice gear.   

[Green Beer]

The Titan roster is up. Mackenzie Huber and Sophia Feeney dropping off the list. Feeney is in the middle of volleyball season, so I don't know if she'll be joining later or not.

[iwu70]

Here comes the new season.

The IWU women played Eastern Illinois last night in an exhibition, with the Titans holding their own well, losing by five. It appears several freshmen will be in the starting line-up and the rotation.  Key returnees are Bardic, Balli, Sawyer White, and Laura Mahlum.  Mia Smith has a deep roster this year, with nine freshmen coming in. 

IWU will play another exhibition vs. D2 ISU Redbirds on Sunday at 2 p.m. -- free to attend at CEFCU Arena at ISU. 

IWU picked to win the CCIW and ranked #10 in the new pre-season poll. 

A good year ahead. 

IWU'70

[scottiedawg]

That exhibition is a great picture of why, on my preseason top 25 ballot, I had no team higher than IWU that brought back less scoring.  It's just so difficult to have any idea what sort of recruiting class a team is bringing in, but looking at track record you should bet on IWU / Mia Smith!

[iwu70]

IWU got a great infusion of new talent with the freshmen group, including some size (Sears) and great talent, experience in the two from Maine South, and the newbie from CA.  I expect 3-4 freshmen to be a part of the IWU rotation this year.  Much depends on the health and improvement of the key three returnees:  Balli, White, and Mahlum.   I expect a monster senior year from Ava Bardic. 

The exhibition at ISU is this afternoon -- Sunday, October 26th, at 2 p.m.   Free admission. 

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Of the other returnees at IWU, I expect three to make contributions, perhaps be part of the rotation.  That would be Martha Lipic, Luigi Lam, and Alyssa Epps, especially Epps.  She has a good up-side and is a good rebounder. 

Mia Smith has a good record of recruiting and always seems to put together a quality edition with the talents she has.  In Mia we trust.

Another tough schedule pre-CCIW for IWU, as usual.

IWU'70

[Green Beer]

This one wasn't expected to be close, but fun to watch and get an idea of what the Titans will look like this year. Bardic, L. Mahlum, Meyers injured. Starters: White, Balli, Epps, Lipic and mystery freshman, Robinson. (Mystery, because she had minimal stats out of high school). Everyone got into the rotation. Titans ended the game with 46 points, ISU 89. White, high score with 12, but freshman Lucy Hynes with 10, all in the 2nd half. Robinson, 7 pts and Lam, zero. My opinion, Robinson might beat out Lam for the starting point guard position.

[iwu70]

I attended the ISU-IWU exhibition today.  ISU 89, IWU 46.  An obvious mismatch of size and talent levels, but a way to see what might happen for the Titans this year, a bit.  I'm not sure we really learned too much from this game.

As was mentioned, Laura Mahlum, Ava Bardic and Liz Meyers in civies, with injuries.  Mahlum is a back issue, Meyers in a boot so some kind of foot or ankle issue.  I don't know what Bardic is dealing with.  So, not really IWU's likely starting line-up today.

ISU with size and speed, and the best player on the floor in Bella Finnegan, making 7-8 treys and pretty much hitting everything when she was open.  ISU controlled the paint and any entry pass in there basically led to a bucket.  IWU had no answer in paint defense. 

The best Titan player on the floor was PG Sawyer White, with relentless defense, better scoring and three point shooting, and her normal 3-4 steals.  Balli started well, but didn't have a good game.  Other starters were Lipic, Rena Robinson, and Alyssa Epps.  This will all likely change when Bardic returns.  Rotation players were (in order) Asia Koblarczyk, Caitlin Leyden, Lucy Hynes, Luigi Lam, Madison Sears, and Ashley Mahlum.  All Titans got in the game.  Most of the freshmen played, well, like freshman -- not used to the speed and size of the ISU team.

I was most impressed with Robinson (who will be a quality CCIW player), Leyden and Hynes.  Others not so much.  Martha Lipic played pretty well . . . with rebounding and passing. 

It's all a work in progress with many areas of improvement needed, especially rebounding and paint defense.   I think save for Bardic and White, this Titan team will struggle with shot-making and scoring and we will initially really miss the graduated four:  Huber, Palmer, Powers and Knutson. 

We'll certainly find out, know much more when this new group starts playing D3 level players and teams, not a team like ISU with their size and talent level. 

A good community spirit with the coaching staffs all friends and friendly.  ISU coaching staff has more than 15 coaches and Grad Assistants, (including Elyce Knudsen) -- more coaches and supporting Grad Assistants than players on the roster!   

Two+ weeks to go before opening night at The Shirk, vs. Trinity of Texas.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

It looks to me like Robinson will be the backup PG to Sawyer White.  Lam can shoot the ball, but has issues on defense.  It will be a different line up entirely when Bardic and Laura Mahlum are back.  If I were guessing, if all are healthy, I'd say the starting line up will be White, Bardic, Balli, L. Mahlum and Lipic.  We'll see.   The newbies will surely be in the rotation, but will need to prove themselves in CCIW level play. 

IWU'70