NCC 95, Millikin 75
Game Summary
After finally getting the national recognition they deserve, the #24 Cardinals (13-0, 2-0) were able to battle the Big Blue (10-3, 1-1) pretty evenly early with threes falling at a reasonable clip. The two teams tied seven times and swapped the lead seven more, though the Cardinals seemed in control late in the half, leading by as many as nine before taking a 45-40 lead into the locker room. The Cardinals came out firing in the second half, but the Big Blue kept pace, getting as close as three at 59-56 before the Cardinals started to pull away. Despite having time to go for the century mark, Coach Roof called off the dogs with about 90 seconds to go.
Key Stats
- Jamie Cuny (NCC): 6-11 FG (4-7 3PT); 16 pts, 12 reb (3 off), 6 blk. One of the more underrated parts of Jamie's game is her outside shot. She's struggled a little bit from beyond the arc, but her performance last night puts her at 31.9 percent from beyond the arc. She led all rebounders, and with four first half blocks, broke Lindsay Feris' record of 52 blocks in a single season... and we're only 13 games in.
- Tess Godhardt (NCC): 8-14 FG (0-1 3PT), 6-8 FT; 22 pts, 11 reb (8 off), 6 stl. This was Tess' game to command, as she was able to find space in the lane for some good looks at layups. A couple of her offensive rebounds came on one sequence where she came up short on layups but got her own rebound. She's been a godsend all season, helping keep the Cardinals putting points on the board when the threes aren't falling.
- Alyssa Saklak (MIL): 12-24 FG, 4-5 FT; 28 pts, 11 reb (7 off). The defending CCIW Player of the Week followed up a strong performance last week with a monster game despite only playing 19 minutes due to foul trouble. She was able to make adjustments to her offensive game around the contesting arms of Jamie Cuny and other Cardinal post players to log a season high in points.
- Millikin Turnovers: 24. Millikin has struggled historically against the system, and 24 turnovers hurts a lot. They had one five second call on an inbounds pass, a handful of travels, and threw a few passes away, but 14 of the turnovers came on Cardinal steals. Tess Godhardt led the way with six, while Miranda Grizaffi, Mayson Whipple, and Corrine Rowe each had two.
- NCC 3PT: 15-61 (24.6%). Overall... not the best outing. The Cardinals shot 6-29 from deep in the first half before catching some fire for stretches in the second half. The percentage isn't great, but making 15 when you shoot 61 isn't too terrible. Most of the threes were open, but not always taken with set feet. That will probably help boost the percentages a little bit.
- NCC Charges Drawn: 2. Therese Pettersson and Bobbi Johns each picked up a charge in the second half, and I wasn't sure because the officials made delayed calls of offensive fouls. This helped to offset the multitude of offensive fouls the Cardinals had called on them in the first half.
- @Elmhurst 63 (8-5, 1-1), Augustana 49 (6-7, 0-2)
- @ Carthage 58 (9-4, 2-0), North Park 53 (8-5, 0-2)
- Wheaton 72 (12-1, 2-0), @ Illinois Wesleyan 46 (6-7, 0-2)
And all it took was a 12-0 start, a WSJ article, a @d3hoopsville appearance, and the ramblings of a homer PA guy: http://t.co/wqsGIyKSZX #24
— Lucas Mitzel (@northsider89) January 6, 2015
I tweeted this out on Tuesday morning after learning that the Cardinals finally broke into the Top 25, something that was a long time coming, and this game was a good first test for a ranked team. The Big Blue just seemed to run out of gas as the game went on, a pretty common occurrence in this system.
The Cardinals are on the road for the next week, with the true test coming up on Saturday: #13 Wheaton. They're the consensus team to beat in the CCIW and are one of only two teams (Carthage being the other) that hasn't lost to the system, and the Thunder have never had the close calls Carthage has had. Saturday will be a good barometer of how good this Cardinal team really is.
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