This is actually the second year that the CCIW has used the expanded tournament; in prior years this was a four-team affair, but the six team group gives more teams a chance not only for an automatic bid, but also to bolster their resumes for at large selection into the NCAA Tournament.
So below I'm going to preview the entire CCIW Tournament field. I'm only putting the weekend site on here; the weekend part of the tournament hasn't changed in that the conference champion hosts the semifinals and finals, but the past couple years the Tuesday play-in games have had higher seeds host.
2020 CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament
Make it the seventh time King Arena has played host to this tournament, second in a row and fifth time in the last six years. I do like this gym; the proximity to the court is nice and Wheaton fans are quite passionate. It's a good locale for a tournament of this caliber. I've been a few games here, most recently back at the beginning of the 2017-18 season when North Central played in the Beth Baker Classic, but not for a men's game since back in my undergrad days.
Quarterfinal #1
17-8 (10-6); 4th appearance (2nd consecutive), 0 titles
There was a little bit of hype surrounding this North Park team coming into the season after they pulled a 5-4 upset in last year's CCIW Tournament, but they were in the thick of the race all year long, even holding onto first place fairly late in the campaign. But February has been a completely different month as the Vikings have all but fallen off a cliff, dropping five of their last six. But they're still a threat paced by the low post game of unanimous First Team All-CCIW Jayla Johnson (16.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 52% FG, 78% FT) and the sharpshooting off the bench of Emily Czuhajewski (8.6 PPG, 42% 3PT). If they can get good complementary production from Second Team All-CCIW Zakiya Newsome (7.9, 36/32/78) and Josie Summerville (5.8, 5.3) they'll be a tough out.
11-14 (7-9), 5th appearance (1st since 2016), 0 titles
I was on the money before the season... other than being off by one place in the standings. It's been a bit of a rough year, but this team has gutted out some tough wins (the comeback at Carroll just over a week ago, holding off Augie in their final home, to name a couple), made even more impressive by the injuries they've battled. Alanna Newsome played just seven games this year and senior Lyndsay Brennan only 15, and Page Desenberg has missed the last four games. It's forced a lot of growing up from the youth at the guard position... and the youth has come through. Second Team All-CCIW Allison Pearson has been really good (11.2 PPG, 40/36/89), and the Kowalczyk twins have played all right as they've gotten more run. This will nonetheless be a tough game for them on Tuesday, even with an ice cold Vikings team that the Cardinals sent into their current spiral.
Quarterfinal #2
16-9 (9-7), 8th appearance (1st since 2012), 1 title
Credit the Big Blue; they were picked to finish towards the bottom of the conference; instead they got a game at the Griswold Center on Tuesday. Olivia Lett deserved the Beth Baker Coach of the Year award for this turnaround, but did not get the nod. She'll have to settle for boasting unanimous First Team All-CCIW Jordan Hildebrand, who has been a force down low (13.5, 6.3, 55% FG), and Newcomer of the Year/Second Team All-CCIW Abby Ratsch (10.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 45/47/71). Add in double figure scorers Aubrey Staton (11.0 PPG, 35/30/56) and Bailey Coffman (11.0 PPG, 44/35/79), and you have a dangerous team here.
13-12 (8-8), 3rd appearance (2nd consecutive), 0 titles
The Vikings will try to redeem themselves after losing their Tuesday home game to North Park last season. Unanimous First Team All-CCIW Alexis Jones is a double-double machine (15.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG), and she's got a ton of balance to help her out with Mia Lambert (10.2 PPG), Second Team All-CCIW Lauren Hall (9.8), and Gabriela Loiz (9.6). This group has hung tough with Millikin this season, losing both but by a combined ten points (including by six at home in overtime about a month ago). This should be a fun one on Tuesday and one that either team can conceivably win.
First Round Bye Teams
17-8 (11-5), 15th appearance (5th consecutive), 8 titles
If there's one knock in this Titans team, it's that they've really struggled against the host team in this tournament, though that didn't matter last year when they went into King Arena and stole the auto bid. They have a chance to do so again paced by unanimous First Team All-CCIW Kendall Sosa (20.0 PPG, 46/39/86) and another First Teamer in Sydney Shanks (12.6, 5.6, 42/33/69) plus strong forward and Second Team All-CCIW Riley Brovelli (9.8, 9.0, 51% FG). They're their usual battle-tested selves thanks to the usual strong non-conference slate, and while I know they have two losses to Wheaton, they played the Thunder tough both times, and if they collide in the title game again, it will be another good one.
19-6 (12-4), 15th appearance (10th consecutive), 6 titles
Oh good, these guys again. It's been a bit of a weird year for the Thunder; even though they're 12-4, they've felt more beatable this time around compared to prior years. That doesn't change the fact that Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Player Hannah Frazier (18.3, 7.0, 39/36/84) isn't a monster, or that they've gotten step up performances from junior Second Team All-CCIW Kirsten Madsen (9.5, 38/40/87) and sophomore Hannah Swider (8.0, 37/34/91)... and that's not counting Second Team All-CCIW Hannah Williams. If they continue to play at a high level, while the Thunder are in pretty good shape for an at large bid, Beth Baker Coach of the Year Kent Madsen will have his team in a strong position to not need one.
Tournament Predictions
I really shouldn't do this... but I can't help it. I think Millikin knocks off Augie to hold serve at home, and with the way they've played of late... I'm not sure North Park still has enough gas to make it to the weekend. Give me North Central pulling off the upset in Chicago on Tuesday. Then over the weekend, we see yet another Wheaton-Illinois Wesleyan title game, with the hosts avenging last year's defeat to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
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