WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU moves up from #14 to #10 in the latest D3hoops poll, the last poll before the national tournament. 

Good luck to the Titans this weekend in Holland, @ DeVos. 

'70

[iwu70]

Just one thought, IWU didn't have Leah Palmer when they played the first time.  She's been a great addition to the Titans and makes the bench a bit stronger than earlier in the season.  She's giving Leyden and Kobalarczyk a bit of rest during these very competitive games.  And she's contributed offensively, with rebounding, and has proved to be an excellent FT shooter.  Still, a tough game with Hope on their floor if both teams win in the first round. 

'70

[iwu70]

IWU over Washington and Jefferson, 61-53.  Sara Balli with a big night.

Hope easily wins, scoring over 100, so IWU has the re-match tonight at DeVos.

Should be a great game for the spot in the Sweet Sixteen.

'70

[GoPerry]

IWU 85
Hope 90 (OT)

This was a great game. Titans were a little cold-hot-cold through the 1st half.  Hope led by 14 midway through the 3rd Q before IWU started forcing turnovers and chipping away.  Then a furious stretch of titan three point shooting allowed them to tie, and then take the lead by 6.  But then it seemed they lost their offensive gas. Hope was able to tie it and then in OT put it away. Bardic fouling out with 3 mins left in the OT seemed to spell the end.

Great effort by the IWU ladies.

[iwu70]

Tough loss, great season for our Titans.  Again, Hope and DeVos the obstacle.  Seems sad to have two top 10 teams playing in a second round game. 

Congrats to Coach Smith and staff and all the Titans on a great run. 

I agree, the fouling was a huge issue and Hope got so many more FT attempts than IWU ?   Leyden, Balli and then Bardic, all fouling out.  Almost no one left who could score by the time the OT rolled round.   

Congrats to the great group of seniors, especially White, Balli and Bardic.  Impossible to replace these three.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

IWU and Carroll finish 23-6, IWU ranked 15th in the final poll, Carroll ranked 21st.  Good years for both and for the CCIW.   Congrats to both programs. 

IWU now has a big rebuild, not a reload this time.  So many spots and minutes to fill, so much talent with White, Bardic and Balli out the door to graduation.  Some great freshmen to build on but surely many spots, minutes, scoring, defense and rebounding to find for next season.  I sure hope the recruiting class is exceptional.

Congrats to the Titans -- the Titan nation really enjoyed the ride. . . another year where we just couldn't get past Hope in OT games.  Good luck to the graduating seniors in all future endeavors. 

Best to all the CCIW chatsters and IWU fans here.

IWU'70 

[Gotberg]

NPU coaching news:

https://athletics.northpark.edu/news/2026/5/15/north-park-announces-new-womens-basketball-head-coach.aspx

[Gregory Sager]

Kira Mowen has as high-powered a résumé as I've ever seen among CCIW women's basketball coaches. She's been a head coach at the D2 and D3 levels -- and she won a MWC title and MWC tourney title (and thus made it to the D3 tourney) as the head coach at Knox, which is not an easy place to win -- and an assistant at four different D1 schools. On the face of it, at least, hiring her appears to be a genuine coup for North Park. Kudos to North Park AD John Born for this hire!

I'm very excited to see what she can do with the program ... although I'm very guarded about NPU's prospects for success in the upcoming season, considering the roster she's inheriting and the fact that all she can do at this late date in the recruiting cycle to bolster the 2026-27 roster is to locate and recruit either an as-yet-uncommitted juco player or players or perhaps an unclaimed portal refugee or two.

Every coach ought to get a mulligan for their first season. Given her late hire and the current condition of the NPU women's basketball program, I think she deserves at least two seasons at Foster and Kedzie before there should be any sense of rising expectations placed upon the program.