2024 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 17 (Part 2)

Hope you all had a good holiday! The coalition made its early picks already, and now we return for the remainder of the Week 17 slate.

I'm not off to a great start, as I whiffed on both Christmas Day games as well as the Thursday contest; everyone else in the group managed to hit on at least one. This means Joe has pulled to within one game of me, while Adam now has a two game edge with the three of us all taking Seattle in the Thursday game. The top of the board remains the top of the board, and they appear to have pulled clear for the group title this season, with Geoffrey currently boasting a one game lead on Jim.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. No hero picks were made on Christmas.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the week, Adam and I disagree on just a single game, Joe and I on five, and the two of them on six of the remaining 13. Let's get to it!

2024 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 17 (Part 1)

We're briefly working the holiday... at least long enough to cover the holiday as the coalition comes down to the end of the 2024 season!

The good news last week is I got myself back into the column contest and Adam regressed to the mean. Joe and I each took three of four from him while we split our four disputed games. That cuts Adam's lead to me down to just a single game with 32 to play.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. Overall group wise, it's pretty much a two-man race at this point as Jim and Geoffrey are five games up on Adam at this point.

You'll notice the title says this is a Part 1. With games on Christmas day, and Christmas falling in the middle of the week, we're grabbing the early games on the schedule and will follow up later this week with the rest.

For Part 1, Adam and I disagree on one, Joe and I on two, and the two of them on one gamee out of the first three on the Week 17 docket. From all of us at Confessions of a Sportscaster, have a Merry Christmas! Let's get to the picks.

Game Notes: (MBK) Concordia- Chicago @ North Central College (12/20/24)

Final Score
NCC 86, CUC 78

Game Summary
This one started great, as the Cardinals (9-2) opened the game with a 12-4 lead. However the Cougars (4-5) stayed tough with the Cardinals, going on a 15-3 run to take their first lead of the game. Despite trading baskets for a bit, the Cardinals ultimately took control, taking a 40-34 lead into the break. The Cougars started strong in the second half though, fighting back and taking a 50-49 lead about five minutes into the final stanza. But a quick 5-0 Cardinal run flipped the momentum, and a separate 15-0 Cardinal run that spanned five minutes effectively sealed the deal, with Concordia getting some garbage time points to make this game closer than it appeared.

Key Players

• Terrance Moncrief (NCC): 8-9 FG (2-2 3PT), 1-4 FT; 19 pts, 5 reb (1 off), 3 ast, 1 blk. I walked into Merner about 20 minutes before tipoff, Terrance saw me, and said something to the effect of "We need you." Though early on, T was enough, as he scored 10 of NCC's first 12 points in the opening five minutes. He did get himself into trouble late in the first half though, picking up his second foul with just over five minutes remaining, then compounding the issue with a technical foul in the immediate aftermath. It ended up not mattering, as Moncrief did not pick up another foul, and scored seven in the second half to help push the Cardinals to the victory.
• Tyler DiSilvio (NCC): 4-7 FG (1-3 3PT), 2-2 FT; 11 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl. While Alejandro Diaz (16 pts) was the second-leading scorer for the Cardinals and paced the team with five steals, DiSilvio's personal 5-0 run that was mentioned above ended up being the turning point in the game. DiSilvio hit a pair of free throws to give the Cardinals a 51-50 lead, and he followed that up with a three to push the lead to four, and the Cardinals essentially never looked back from there.
• Jacob Collicott (CUC) 13-22 FG (2-5 3PT), 2-3 FT; 30 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Throughout the game, Collicott struck me as the kind of guy you love if he's on your team and hate if he's on the opposing team, but he had a phenomenal floor game as well. He hit some deep shots, and had a lot of success getting to the basket as well. It's was a little surprising, but also not, to see him have the dominant scoring output that he did.

Key Stats

• NCC: 19-29 FT (65.3%). This is not going to get it done against the better teams. The Cardinals got to the line way more in this one (CUC was 5-7 for comparison), and were 10-12 in the first half, but went cold as the game went on, which is part of why the margin was closer than the game really was. This is something the Cardinals will need to work on.
• CUC: Outscored NCC in the paint 54-38. This is also something the Cardinals will need to work on, but it was also partially a function of the Cougars' full court pressure defense. It wreaked some havoc to the tune of 15 Cardinal turnovers (though NCC also forced 15 and outscored the Cougars off turnovers). But between those and some breakdowns in the half court set, the Cardinals do have a little work to do over the holiday.

Final Thoughts

I'm skipping the CCIW scoreboard since we're breaking from conference play for now. But this game wasn't necessarily the prettiest game I've ever seen. There was a lot of sloppy play, with guys getting easily stripped a ton (off the combined 30 turnovers, 20 were a result of steals). Ultimately though, a 30-8 Cardinal run sealed the deal, and the Cardinals beat a team they are better than and won a game they were supposed to.

This puts NCC at 9-2, with a 2-1 CCIW mark. The Cardinals have one more non-conference game against Anderson on 12/30, but are already 7-1 outside of the CCIW, which is phenomenal. So far, with the exception of losing at home to Millikin, they've beaten everyone they're supposed to, although it hasn't always looked pretty. I'm still not sure what the ceiling for this Cardinal team is, but they've never been out of a game and have found ways to win when they haven't been at their best. That'll be good for this group the rest of the way.

Prior to that Anderson game, the Cardinals will get a rare treat of a game at the D-1 level as they go to take on UW-Milwaukee on Sunday. I don't expect the Cardinals to win this game by any stretch of the imagination, but I think they'll at least compete against a team GM'd by former Cardinal Mike Winans.

Following the Anderson game, it'll be all CCIW competition from here on out, and I think this Cardinal team can compete, especially for a home conference tournament game. We'll see how it goes from here.

2024 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 16

Three weeks and just 48 games remain in the 2024 NFL regular season, and we're getting down to the nitty gritty both on the field and in picking what happens on the field.

Turnabout was fair play last week, as Adam swept all six games disputed with me and took three of five from Joe; Joe ended up grabbing six of seven from me. Fortunately the stuff we did agree on worked out well, leaving me with a mediocre mark for Week 15 while Adam ended up tying the best ever mark for a full week's worth of games.

As a result of Adam's bipolar picking tendencies, he's somehow managed to work his way back into contention as he's just one off Geoffrey's pace. I fell off but remain just a few games back. Six of the seven folks in our group are above .500 for the year; Matthew is the only one below, and even then, to be just ten games under for his first time isn't too bad.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. I can no longer boast about a perfect hero record, as that was one of my disputed picks with Joe and Adam. We all also hit on two consensus picks last week to bring our record there back above the .500 mark.

And so as we look ahead to Week 16, we have history this week. While there will never be a week where any of us completely match each other barring some level of shenanigans (likely on my part), this is the first time that our disputed counts all match as we each disagree with each on four separate games. Let's get to it!

Game Notes: (MBK) Carroll University @ North Central College (12/14/24)

Final Score
NCC 68, Carroll 66

Game Summary
There was more drama in the nightcap than there was in the game that preceded it, though at first it didn't seem like it. The Pioneers (2-7, 0-3) took the lead early and just built on it. They had a double digit lead with nine minutes gone in the contest and got it as high as 14 before the Cardinals (8-2, 2-1) started to make some headway and cut it a seven point game before the Pioneers made one late push to end the half up 37-25. After a Kobe Simpson three made it 40-27 about two minutes into the second half, Carroll went cold, and the Cardinals embarked on a 16-3 run that tied the game with under 12 minutes to play. This turned the game into a back and forth classic, with neither team being able to push out to a two possession lead. Carroll tied the game for the 13th time at 66 with about 15 seconds to go. The Cardinals took two and a half ticks to get across halfcourt for a timeout to draw up the final play. And from there... we'll let the video do the work.

Goaltending? You be the judge. #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/gAxIUukjvN

— Lucas Mitzel🎙 (@northsider89) December 15, 2024

Key Players

• Ethan Helwig (NCC): 7-12 FG (2-6 3PT), 4-5 FT; 20 pts, 11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl.  Helwig was a large factor in the comeback, with 14 of his team-high 20 coming after the intermission. But no play was larger than the final offensive possession when he took a bounce from Alejandro Diaz, lost the handle, somehow got it back, fired up a fadeaway that somehow, someway, bounced home. Just two days after picking a pocket for the game-winning layup at Loras, he does it again.
• Terrance Moncrief (NCC): 8-13 FG (1-1 3PT), 2-3 FT; 19 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 4 stl. Someone came by the table late in the second half and asked what Moncrief was at scoring-wise; it might have even been after he hit his lone three to put the Cardinals up by that much with under 90 seconds to go. You talk about guys have a "quiet" 19 where you aren't really paying attention to his output, go to check the box score at the end of the game and his numbers are really good. Moncrief though, had a loud 19. He was attacking the basket and got a ton of shots to fall, none bigger that that three, even though Carroll immediately came back to tie the game.
• Evan Bland (CRL): 5-8 FG (2-4 3PT); 12 pts, 3 reb. There's probably a few different ways I could've gone, but Bland led the Pioneers in scoring coming off the bench, and hit some big buckets for them in this one. It just wasn't enough on this night.

Key Stats

• NCC: 10-34 FG 1st half (29.4%). This was a big part of it; the Cardinals couldn't buy a bucket early in the game. This mark included a 1-10 effort from beyond the arc. Obviously it got better after halftime (17-30, including 4-9 from beyond the arc), and that helped the Cardinals to a comeback victory.
• CRL: 8-29 FG 2nd half (27.6%). And this ultimately tells the other half. Carroll went about seven minutes without a field goal when the Cardinals were mounting their comeback. The numbers got buoyed by the late efforts to answer Cardinals baskets, but it just wasn't enough.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• CAR 82 (7-2, 2-0), @ AUG 70 (5-3, 1-2)
• NPU 78 (6-3, 3-0), @ WHE 75 (3-8, 0-2)
• BYE: MIL (5-4, 1-1)
• Sunday 4pm: ELM @ IWU

Final Thoughts

Okay, I didn't address it when I dropped the video originally, so let's get to the elephant in the room. Yes, that probably should have been goaltending on Tyler Swierczek. It was pretty clear both in real time and then again on replay that he touched the rim. But in keeping with how most of this game went, they let both teams play.

The Cardinals have now won 12 in a row against Carroll dating back to December of 2018, and that includes a three game sweep last year highlighted by a Sean Molloy fadeaway winning the game in somewhat similar fashion as well as a game in the CCIW Tournament. North Central continues to find ways to win games, even when they don't necessarily play their best. But at 8-2, with a 2-1 mark in CCIW play, they're in good shape.

This is it for conference play for the calendar year. Concordia Chicago comes calling on Friday (a reschedule due to NCC Football doing NCC Football things), plus an exhibition against D-I UW-Milwaukee before the holiday.

Game Notes: (WBK) Carroll University @ North Central College (12/14/24)

Final Score
Carroll 85, NCC 58

Game Summary
This one wasn't pretty. The Pioneers (6-4, 2-1) scored the game's first eight, and while the Cardinals (5-4, 1-1) fought back to cut the deficit to make it a 15-8 ballgame, Caroll finished the opening quarter on an 11-3 run to go up by 15 after ten minutes. A 9-0 Pioneer run keyed their second quarter to a 51-27 halftime advantage. The Cardinals would not threaten in the second half, and Caroll got the lead as high as 32 before settling into the final margin.

Key Players

• Olivia Rangel (CRL): 7-11 FG (1-1 3PT), 3-4 FT; 18 pts, 7 reb (1 off), 4 ast, 1 stl. I could've gone a few different ways, but Rangel had the best floor game for the Pios.
• Emilie Wizner (CRL): 8-15 FG (1-6 3PT), 4-4 FT; 21 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl. Wizner I feel like had kind of a quiet 21. I called her name plenty of times, but it didn't feel like she was the big threat. Maybe part of it was the poor three point night. Regardless, she did enough from elsewhere on the floor to make up for it.
• Elle Sutter (NCC): 5-14 FG (0-1 3PT), 3-4 FT; 13 pts, 10 reb (3 off), 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Not a great shooting night, as Elle missed some looks from in close (though through contact that was not called much either way all night), and yet she still managed to put up a double-double. For her second official game back, not too bad. She'll get there.

Key Stats

• NCC: 2-15 3PT (13.3%), 14-24 FT (58.3%). It's the combination of these, really. The Cardinals did a poor job at the line, though that wouldn't have been enough to turn the tide. Maybe doing better from deep would have helped. The looks were open, but other than Cate Uhren hitting a pair in the first half... that was it.
• CRL: 56 points in the paint. I mean, considering the Cardinals only scored 58 total, this seems like the game. Carroll did a great job moving the ball around and finding some open looks, and made the Cardinals pay despite them doing all they could.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ IWU 93 (9-0, 3-0), ELM 56 (7-2, 1-2)
• CAR 71 (6-2, 1-1), @ AUG 57 (3-7, 1-3)
• @ WHE 68 (6-5, 2-1), NPU 35 (3-7, 0-3)
• UW-Platteville 60, @ MIL 47 (2-6, 1-1)

Final Thoughts

I hate playing Carroll in women's basketball. It's a credit to Lindsey Schultz, her staff, and the players that they continue to dominate this series, winning the past eight matchups between these two teams. While we're nowhere near Wheaton territory yet, it's getting there.

I was hoping for a little more competitive a game, but this team will have to have a short memory and be ready to go, as they hit the road on Tuesday for a game at Coe. That will be their last game before a two week break for the holidays; that game in Iowa will be the first of five straight on the road. North Central will not be home again until January 15th when they welcome Wheaton to town.

2024 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 15

We're coming down to the home stretch with just four weeks remaining. The race for this year's crown remains tight.

Up until Monday night I was tied for first place, but fell in the final game of Week 14. That also meant that Adam took four of five disputed games from me in a tremendous rebound effort and three of five from Joe; Joe took three of four from me as I stumbled a little bit.

Despite that, as noted I remain just a game off the lead currently held by Geoffrey. Jim and Adam both remain within striking distance, just three and four games off the pace, respectively. All told, 11 games separate first from last place.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. Adam and Matthew each hit on their sixth successful hero pick this past week; that leads all pickers, though I remain perfect in my small sample size. Geoffrey's lead continues to be buoyed by his strong showing in 4-3 split games.

With all byes officially completed, we've got 16 game slates the rest of the way. This week, Adam and I disagree on six games, Joe and I on seven, and the two of them on five. Let's get to it!

Game Notes: (MBK) Augustana College @ North Central College (12/7/24)

Final Score
NCC 76, Augustana 69

Game Summary
After a tough loss to open CCIW play on Wednesday, the Cardinals (6-2, 1-1) opened with a pair of layups on their first two possessions to go up 4-0. Then the seesaw came out as the Vikings (5-2, 1-1) scored the next five. Neither team could gain a large edge as the game stayed within one possession for the rest of the half, the Vikings scoring with eight ticks left to take a 36-35 halftime edge. Augie pushed their lead to five early in the second half before the Cardinals stormed back, hitting back to back threes to get the seesaw going once again. NCC would lead by as many as four, but the seesaw kept going. After 14 ties, the Cardinals took the 30th lead change of the game on a pair of free throws with just over a minute to go, then hit six more while shutting out the Vikings the rest of the way to seal the home victory.

Key Players

• Ethan Helwig (NCC): 6-11 FG (3-7 3PT), 8-8 FT; 23 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast. Ethan's had some rough games to start the year, but in this one got the ship righted. It was a big boost to get his scoring average back into double figures, he hit some big shots, but it was his work at the free throw line late that helped seal the deal. Helwig hit six in a row in the final minute-plus, including the ones that gave the Cardinals the lead for good.
• Tre Davis (NCC): 3-6 FG (1-2 3PT), 2-2 FT; 9 pts, 1 reb, 2 stl. While I could have gone with the only other double figure scorer in Tyler Swierczek (16 pts), I'll go with the guy who made arguably the play of the game. After Augie tied the game at 53, they shut NCC's offense down for 29 seconds before knocking the ball out of bounds and forcing an inbound with just one second on the shot clock. In past years, the Cardinals would have drawn up a lob play inside; instead Drew Gaston found Davis for a fallaway jumper at the buzzer that, at least for the moment, gave the Cardinals some momentum. Davis followed that up a few minutes later with his lone three that again gave the Cardinals the lead. Not a statistically driven game for Davis, but he hit big shots when his team needed him, and his two steals helped on the other end as well.
• Tyler Knuth (AUG): 6-15 FG (4-9 3PT), 6-6 FT; 22 pts, 1 reb. Knuth's main contribution came from his shooting, as he hit a number of big threes for the Vikings while also taking advantage of his trips to the free throw line. It just wasn't quite enough on this night.

Key Stats

• NCC: 9-23 3PT (39.1%). This is a very good shooting night on its face, but it came in the wake of a rough shooting night on Wednesday where the Cardinals hit just eight of 30 treys (26.7%) in a loss to Millikin. On this night, they didn't settle for threes. They largely came in the flow of the offense, and most importantly: they hit them when they needed to. It's a good bounceback effort.
• AUG: Outscored NCC in the paint 28-16. The Vikings had the size advantage in this one, and they used it. Guys were able to make their way to the basket, and then even in instances where they may not have hit, they got to the free throw line where they also had a good night (11-14, 78.6%). It just wasn't quite enough in this one.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ NPU 73 (5-3, 2-0), MIL 64 (4-4, 1-1)
• IWU 72 (7-1, 1-1), @ CRL 66 (2-6, 0-2)
• @ ELM 73 (4-4, 1-1), WHE 67 (3-7, 0-1)
• CAR 95 (6-2, 1-0), Knox 69

Final Thoughts

After missing the tough loss on Wednesday, it was good to get back to Merner on Saturday. We saw a tough, physical game a lot like many other North Central-Augustana games of the past. They largely let both teams play in this one (from a biased perspective, I thought to NCC's detriment at times in the second half). But when teams did get to the line, they took advantage; the Cardinals were near perfect (23-24, 95.8%, probably could/should have been my key stat for NCC). It got them back in the win column and to .500 in CCIW play.

It's hard at this point to say how good the CCIW on the whole is this season, but we'll find out more on Saturday when the Cardinals welcome Carroll to Gregory Arena for the first time since their CCIW Tournament meeting in February.

Game Notes: (WBK) Augustana College @ North Central College (12/7/24)

Final Score
NCC 72, Augustana 60

Game Summary
After trading baskets to open the game, the Vikings (3-5, 1-1) went on a 7-2 run to take early control. The Cardinals (5-3, 1-0) followed that up with an 8-0 run to take the lead. North Central pushed their advantage to six before settling into a 19-15 lead after ten minutes. Augie hit a three to open the second quarter, but the Cardinals followed that up with an 11-2 run to push their lead to double digits, and allowed just seven second quarter points to go up 35-22 at the break. North Central led by as many as 20 in the third quarter, and while the Vikings would fight back in the fourth quarter, but it took them until the final minute to get back to a single digit margin.

Key Players

• Biz Daly (NCC): 8-13 FG, 10-15 FT; 26 pts, 7 reb (3 off), 2 ast, 2 stl. Another night, another dominant showing from Daly. Her free throw numbers came down from where she's been for much of the rest of the year, but she continues to shine offensively on the whole. Through eight games, she's averaging 19.8 points, tops in the CCIW.
• Megan McClure (NCC): 4-9 FG; 8 pts, 8 reb (1 off), 4 ast. After what was a rough night on Wednesday (she had 10 rebounds, but turned the ball over six times), she had a good bounceback effort in this one. Her eight boards led the team, and after struggling some to start the year she's starting to find her touch on her midrange jumpers again. If she's hitting those, she's one of the best players on the floor.
• Paige Melton (AUG): 4-8 FG, 9-13 FT; 17 pts, 5 reb (3 off), 1 ast. Coming off a 31 point outburst against Elmhurst three nights prior (only the 11th 30+ point night for a Viking in the 21st century per Matthew Nicol of Augustana), she followed this one up with a good second half outburst, primarily at the free throw line. This solid performance combined with her Wednesday outburst earned her CCIW Player of the Week honors for the prior week.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outscored AUG on fast breaks 20-7. The scoring off turnovers only barely favored the Cardinals (17-15), but when NCC got out in transition they made the most of it. Now granted, many of these fast break points were counted off of free throws according to NCC's stats, but it's then a credit to the Cardinals for making enough of those to help power to a victory.
• AUG: 24 turnovers. NCC continues to employ a backcourt press defense off of inbounds plays, and it continues to wreak havoc on opponents. Augie was called for one ten second call, and came close a number of other times. Again, this resulted in 17 Cardinal points, with Cardinal defenders recording 10 steals for the contest.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• IWU 80 (8-0, 2-0), @ CRL 71 (5-4, 1-1)
• @ ELM 73 (7-1, 1-1), WHE 58 (5-4, 1-1)
• MIL 67 (2-5, 1-1), @ NPU 57 (3-6, 0-2)
• Bye: CAR (5-2, 0-1)

Final Thoughts

You may have noticed if you looked at the box score that Jocelyn Trotter's name was not mentioned. Apparently she suffered a knee injury somewhere along the line and was held out of the game on Wednesday against Chicago. At the time she was day-to-day, though talking to her pregame she gave a timeline of "a couple weeks." Hopefully that holds true; while the Cardinals will be okay, she's a big piece.

In the interim, the Cardinals needed reinforcements... and they got them. Fresh off another successful soccer season, Elle Sutter is back for her fifth year (fourth, given that she lost a year with a knee injury). This was a very quick turnaround decision for her, as she did not suit up on Wednesday but came off the bench on Saturday. With a modest line (5 pts, 5 reb), she'll probably need a little time to get back into basketball shape, but she'll get there, and when Trotter returns it'll make this group even scarier than they already are.

NCC followed this game up with a trip to Chicago to take on UIC in an exhibition on Sunday. They fell 113-53 in that game; not a surprise against a D-I foe, but a good tuneup. They'll get a chance to rest up and prepare for a big one against Carroll, a team that's had their number in recent years, but off to a slower start in 2024-25.

2024 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 14

The coalition returns as we begin the stretch run of the 2024 NFL season, but we do so with a look at the history of the contest.

I dug back through a decade's worth of records, and we've had some bad weeks over the years. I overlooked what my worst week was, but I'm pretty sure I had a three win week somewhere along the line. Adam has put up 2-11 weeks a couple times, but it's been years since those. Geoffrey once put up a 2-12 week, with the asterisk of some of those losses being counted because he forgot to get his picks in. Both Geoffrey and, back when he was participating, my dad each had a 3-13 week. The... "gold" standard for bad weeks was Joe during the Covid year somehow only getting one game right. But in a decade-plus of picking games, we have a new low for a full 16 game slate.

I took three of five disputed games from Joe, which is fine because he and I both swept Adam in our disputed games last week. The rest of the group had a mediocre to good week, while Adam, in his words, "would like a redo." As a result, what had been probably a four guy race at the top is likely down to three with five weeks to go. Geoffrey is now in sole possession of first place, I gained a game on him, and sit tied with Jim for second and just a game out of the lead.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. Adam's dominance in superminority games vanished this week, though he remains tied for the best average in those games. Geoffrey retains the best record in 4-3 split games, which is largely why he's in front right now. Jim has the second best mark in those games, while I've notched the best mark in hero games regardless of who's gone it alone (though my 4-0 mark doing so remains the best in the group thus far).

And so as we get back to it, Adam disagrees with Joe and I on five games apiece; Joe and I dispute four of out 13. Let's get to it!

Game Notes: (WBK) Concordia University- Wisconsin @ North Central College (11/30/24)

Final Score
NCC 85, CUW 66

Game Summary
This one didn't start the greatest, as while the Cardinals (4-2) were able to get some early points, the Falcons (0-4) were able to answer quickly back, and built a 25-18 lead after one quarter. They pushed that lead to double digits at 34-24 midway through the second quarter, then the Cardinals made their run, outscoring the Falcons 10-1 to get back into the game, and briefly taking a lead before going into the break tied at 38. A three for NCC opened the second half scoring, and the Cardinals never trailed again as they fairly quickly pushed the lead to double digits.

Key Players

• Jocelyn Trotter (NCC): 7-13 FG (1-1 3PT), 1-1 FT; 16 pts, 14 reb (5 off), 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Make it two straight double-doubles and three for the year as the sophomore is almost averaging one through six games this season (she's one rebound shy). While Trotter led the team in scoring, it wasn't in a dominant, take-over-the-game way. She hit the go-ahead three early in the second half that gave the Cardinals the lead for good, and got many of her other baskets either off putbacks or takeaways. And the rebounding was great to see.
• Josylin Simmons-Doxie (NCC): 6-10 FG (1-1 3PT); 13 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl. JSD was a complementary piece off the bench for most of last year, but the senior has stepped into a starting role this year and is excelling so far. This was a good floor game where she attacked the basket, took advantage of an open look from deep, found open teammates, and wreaked havoc on the defensive end. She's a key part of NCC's pressure defense off made baskets, and it shows.
• Gracie McNabb (CUW): 7-11 FG (5-8 3PT); 19 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast. Probably the Falcons' best player, McNabb had a couple key buckets in the first half. She hit a three right before the first quarter buzzer that pushed the Falcon lead to seven, and she followed that up to tie the game at 38 right before halftime. I overheard Cardinal coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax mention to her team not to let her get hot, and while McNabb did get hot, it just wasn't enough this day.

Key Stats

• NCC: 20-23 FT (87.0%). In years past, free throw shooting has been a thing that's doomed the Cardinals, but in the two games I've seen in person so far this year that hasn't been the case. The Falcons played an aggressive defense on Saturday and were whistled for 24 fouls as a result of it. The Cardinals made them pay, and that's part of why the game went the way it did.
• CUW: 21 turnovers. This was the other piece. A whopping 16 Cardinal steals factored into this total as the aforementioned pressure defense wreaked havoc, especially in the second half. These 21 turnovers led to 24 Cardinal points. For comparison, 14 Cardinal turnovers led to 18 Falcon points.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• Elmhurst 69 (6-0), @ Manchester 67
• Webster 80, @ Augustana 68 (2-4)
• @ Ripon 71, Carroll 62 (4-3)
• @ Carthage 70 (5-1), MSOE 52
• IWU 65 (5-0), DePauw 59

Final Thoughts

I was a little leery in the first half, given that this Concordia team was winless to start the year, with big losses to Whitewater and Wheaton on their resume, so to be tied at halftime wasn't great. But the Cardinals woke up in the second half and put the game away fairly convincingly. They're off to a 4-2 start with the Aurora game starting to fade from my memory a little bit. I don't know exactly what the ceiling of this Cardinal team is yet, but I know at minimum this group will be competitive in the CCIW. They won't get to open conference play right away though, as the Cardinals get the bye on Wednesday, and will spend it hosting Chicago for a non-conference tilt in a game I won't be able to make. But hopefully a strong showing there will give this team more confidence going into their opener on Saturday.