WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Green Beer · February 02, 2026, 01:40:08 PM

Unrelated to the CCIW. NYU played Sunday and won by only 1 point. Until this point I would have told anyone that NYU was a lock for this year's tournament champion. Kind of like last year. Even on their worst day they would win by 15 points. Another way to say it, all the rest of the teams are playing for the opportunity to lose to NYU. But on Sunday Carnegie Mellon played them within 1 point. It's still the longest of long shots but at least there's a glimmer of hope

iwu70 · February 02, 2026, 09:50:21 PM

New poll: Carroll at #16, IWU up one to #18.

Five games to go. Go Elmhurst, beat Carroll on Wednesday night.

'70

iwu70 · February 03, 2026, 04:52:59 PM

Congrats to Leah Palmer on being named to D3hoops' Team of the Week. Her dropping in 27 from off the bench was quite something. She's getting more comfortable, knowing her role in the IWU scheme, and helping with paint scoring and rebounding. Such a different player and temperament from her elder sister, Kate Palmer.

IWU'70

blue_jays · February 04, 2026, 10:45:08 AM

Quote from: Green Beer on February 02, 2026, 01:40:08 PMUnrelated to the CCIW. NYU played Sunday and won by only 1 point. Until this point I would have told anyone that NYU was a lock for this year's tournament champion. Kind of like last year. Even on their worst day they would win by 15 points. Another way to say it, all the rest of the teams are playing for the opportunity to lose to NYU. But on Sunday Carnegie Mellon played them within 1 point. It's still the longest of long shots but at least there's a glimmer of hope

The fact NYU graduated a lot of star power and remains this dominant overall, I'd still take their odds over the rest of the field. Sure, they've looked mortal lately and their returning All-American is in a definite shooting slump, yet they continue to beat teams by double digits in a tough UAA. You gotta play a mistake-free game to even have a chance against them, which speaks to their coaching and depth through the lineup. When you've won 80 in-a-row, taking a loss or two becomes inevitable at some point.

iwu70 · February 04, 2026, 01:33:32 PM

From what I've seen, I would not count on NYU taking a loss the rest of the season and post-season.

'70

lmitzel · February 04, 2026, 01:53:21 PM

Not starting to do scenarios or anything yet (tried to, but Google Sheets didn't like the idea of a 17 million row spreadsheet), but we do have a clinching scenario on tonight's docket.

Here's our standings coming in:

x-IWU	10-1
x-CRL	10-1
ELM	7-4
NCC	6-5
AUG	5-5
CAR	4-6
WHE	3-7
MIL	2-9
NPU	1-10

Wesleyan and Carroll both locked up their postseason berths over the weekend. They can't clinch any more tonight, though they'd both all but secure a top four finish with victories.

Elmhurst would clinch a spot with a win over Carroll at home tonight AND a Wheaton loss to Carthage (ELM already has a head to head sweep of the Thunder).

And then the game in Naperville tonight, while it wouldn't clinch anything, might be the biggest game on the docket in terms of shaping the tournament picture. Augie beat the Cardinals in Rock Island already, and if they complete the sweep tonight they're probably a lock for a top four spot since they'd have the head to head over NCC. A Cardinal win, meanwhile, salvages a split and worst case keeps the Cardinals just a game out of third place.

iwu70 · February 04, 2026, 10:56:15 PM

In a record-setting defensive performance, IWU over North Park 71-32. IWU outscored NPU in the 3Q to the tune of 27-3.

IWU moves to 16-5, 11-1, with four games to go. Still tied with Carroll at the top, with 11-1. Elmhurst gave Carroll a good game, but Carroll prevailed.

For North Park:

No one in double figures, highest scorer had 6. NPU had 36 TOs, 36!

NPU at 30%/18% from three/ 44% from the FT line.

For IWU:
Bardic 19
White 13 with 6 steals (IWU with 14 steals in total)
Kobylarczyk 11 and 7
All pine-sitters got to play at least 8 minutes

IWU at 37%/30% from three/79% from the charity stripe.

Four games to go in the regular season schedule. I hope the Titans can win out, get to 20 wins.

IWU'70

lmitzel · February 04, 2026, 11:02:16 PM

NCC 68
Augie 55

A Grace Keiffer three with just over three minutes left in the first half broke a 23-all tie and sparked an 11-1 run to close the first half with the Cardinals up double digits. NCC got the lead up as high as 19 in the third, but the Vikings made it interesting in the fourth, getting back within eight with about five and a half minutes to go. But I'm dubbing this the Kaitlin Park Game; Biz Daly left after just two minutes with an injury and the combination of Alaya Redditt, Taylor Marquardt, and Park did a great job limiting the damage Cali Papez could do, while Park had a career night.

Kaitlin Park: 14 pts
Dolly Smith: 14 pts
Ameli Sanchez: 10 pts, 3 stl

Tia Lewis: 15 pts, 5 reb
Cali Papez: 14 pts (but on 4-13 shooting), 9 reb
Giulia Milazzo: 10 pts

The only thing that could have made the night better is if Dolly Smith had missed one of her two free throws in the final 10 seconds, because we had a pretty big crowd for National Women and Girls in Sports Day, as well as a Naperville Park District family night, and with that many kids in the crowd you can imagine how nuts the place went when she hit the first of her two.

Either way, I'll take a win on a night where the other results around the league were favorable for the team in Naperville; NCC moves back into a tie for third with Elmhurst with the tiebreaker in hand for the moment, and they can clinch a CCIW Tournament berth with a win at Wheaton on Saturday.

lmitzel · **Today** at 09:55:57 AM

Updated standings look coming into tonight:

y-IWU	11-1
z-CRL	11-1
NCC	7-5
ELM	7-5
CAR	5-6
AUG	5-6
WHE	3-8
MIL	2-9
NPU	1-11

Carroll has already locked up a bye to the weekend. Wesleyan hasn't only because they have Elmhurst today. A Titan win sends them straight to the weekend as well.

North Central and Elmhurst are both win-and-in today; I believe the Jays would also get in even with a loss as long as NCC wins.

North Park is on the bye, but would be eliminated from the postseason if Carthage and Augie win their games.

Green Beer · **Today** at 11:27:03 AM

A follow-up to my previous post about NYU, another team took them to the limit last night. Case Western Reserve played them hard for four quarters and had them within 4 points in the last 3 minutes. CWRU has an 8-11 record. It would take the perfect combination of preparation and luck, but I think NYU is beatable.

iwu70 · **Today** at 12:17:19 PM

Yes, interesting on NYU. They also tied the Wash U record for consecutive wins in D3 women's roundball -- at 81. Remarkable. I agree they seem to be coming back to earth and might be beatable if they have an off night. Still favored to go out this year undefeated.

Senior Day 'all round at The Shirk today. Some great kids heading out into the "real world." I'll especially miss watching Ava Bardic and Sawyer White play for the Titans. Unique athletes at the D3 level. The future of the IWU program is very bright, with all the key freshmen playing this year and others waiting on the bench for their chance to shine. Mia Smith will just reload and soon become the winningest coach in CCIW history.

IWU'70