Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst University @ North Central College (1/25/25)

Final Score
Elmhurst 77, NCC 73 (OT)

Game Summary
In another heartbreaker, the Cardinals (10-8, 3-6) got off to a good start, scoring on the game's first possession and using a 10-0 to flip a five point margin early on to keep the game in their control. Elmhurst stuck around though, not letting it get beyond that five point deficit before coming back, though NCC would lead 30-29 going into halftime. The second half saw the Cardinals go up by a game-high eight early, and after a layup gave the Cardinals a 45-39 edge, the Jays countered with a 9-0 run to go up three. Naturally, the Cardinals responded with a 9-0 run of their own to retake that lead. It would be short-lived though, as Elmhurst scored the next seven, and a quick Cardinal three to regrab the lead was answered. The teams traded two point possessions a bit, but 40 minutes would not be enough on this night as we went to overtime. Early Cardinal baskets were quickly answered, and the Jays went up four with about two minutes to go. But the Cardinals found a way to tie the game at 73 with just 13 seconds to go. Unfortunately, Vinnie Adjahoungbeta was able to work his way free on the right side and got a floater to go with 2.8 seconds to go, and Ethan Helwig's baseball pass down the court went harmlessly out of bounds to allow the Blue Jays to escape with the win.

Key Players

• Dominic Trelenberg (ELM): 6-14 FG (1-3 3PT), 7-8 FT; 20 pts, 8 reb (4 off), 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Trelenberg had the best outing of the Jays in this one, as he was able to get to the basket enough in this one despite a decent Cardinal defensive effort. He scored six of his points in the extra session, four off free throws, assisted on the three that put the Jays up four, and got a layup that made it 73-71.
• Vinnie Adjahoungbeta (ELM): 4-10 FG (0-1 3PT), 2-3 FT; 10 pts, 11 reb (4 off), 2 ast, 1 stl. In 30 minutes off the bench, Adjahoungbeta was able to wreak a ton of havoc on the glass, and then hit what proved to be the game-winner in the closing seconds.
• Alejandro Diaz (NCC): 7-11 FG (3-7 3PT), 2-4 FT; 19 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 2 stl. As the leading scorer, Diaz was a big reason why the Cardinals stayed in this game, though it could be argued he's fortunate he was. Diaz picked up his second foul fairly early in the first half, then got his third before Vince Kmiec could get him out. Diaz would not pick up another, which worked out as he hit some big shots, especially in the second half.

Key Stats

• NCC: 7-12 FG (58.3%). This undersells how bad this was. In regulation the Cardinals were just 3-8 from the stripe. All but one of those shots came in the second half, with the misses all coming off either and-ones (though one would result in a second chance layup) or on the front end of one-and-one's. If even one of those free throws falls, we're talking about a completely different game.
• ELM: Outscored NCC on second chances 22-6. Honestly, this was more so the game. Elmhurst won the rebounding battle 43-35, which is significant, but maybe not 16 points significant. But it was the 16 Blue Jay offensive rebounds to eight for North Central, and that more or less sums up how this game went.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ CAR 77 (14-4, 8-1), AUG 69 (10-8, 3-6)
• NPU 69 (13-5, 8-1), @ MIL 61 (10-8, 4-5)
• @ IWU 90 (16-2, 8-1), WHE 68 (3-15, 0-9)
• BYE: CRL (6-11, 2-6)

Final Thoughts

This one hurt. The Wheaton game feels like an eternity ago, and since then the Cardinals have dropped four straight. All six of their CCIW losses are to teams ahead of them, with wins against the teams they're grouped with. If the season ended today the Cardinals would sneak into that sixth seed by virtue of the head to head win over Augie, but that's from even longer ago. I wasn't sure what the ceiling of this team was coming into the season, and I got excited early on that this team could be sneaky good. But at this point, they seem like a middle of the pack CCIW team. They need to get things figured out if they want to make the CCIW Tournament, but it won't be easy with a trip to Millikin on the docket next.

Game Notes: (WBK) Elmhurst University @ North Central College (1/25/25)

Final Score
Elmhurst 69, NCC 65

Game Summary
The Blue Jays (11-6, 3-6) opened the game on an 8-2 run to take the early control, though the Cardinals (7-11, 3-6) did a good job answering back, taking a 15-12 lead after one quarter. They'd push the lead as high as five, but couldn't sustain it and a late bucket gave the Jays a 30-28 halftime lead. Elmhurst pushed their lead up to seven midway through the third quarter, but the Cardinals followed that with an 11-2 run to retake the lead, though Elmhurst would tie it at 50 to end the third. The fourth quarter was largely back and forth, though the Jays held the advantage for most of it. The key stretch came with under a minute to go when a Jocelyn Trotter three tied the game at 63 with 35 seconds to go. Unfortunately, Elmhurst easily broke the Cardinal press for a layup, and the Cardinals never truly threatened again.

Key Players

• Cierra Steemer (ELM): 9-20 FG, 1-2 FT; 19 pts, 17 reb (8 off), 1 ast, 3 blk. The Cardinals did a decent job on Steemer, though she absolutely got hers throughout the game. She made what turned out to be the game-winning layup for the Jays with 28 seconds to go and absolutely dominated the glass.
• Kristin Bukata (ELM): 4-15 FG (0-2 3PT), 7-8 FT; 15 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 5 ast, 1 stl. Bukata is sneaky good. She struggled shooting on the whole, yet finished as the second leading scorer for the Jays and seemed like she scored in some key situations for them.
• Jocelyn Trotter (NCC): 9-11 FG (1-1 3PT), 2-2 FT; 21 pts, 10 reb (4, off), 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl. This seems like your typical Jocelyn Trotter game. It's her second straight double-double and third since returning from injury earlier this season. Most of her baskets were her bread and butter pull up jumpers, and she also hit that big three that tied the game at 63. It just wasn't enough today.

Key Stats

• NCC: 8-14 FT (57.1%). For the season, the Cardinals have been around 70 percent from the stripe, so this was an alarming game. They also only shot from the stripe in the second and third quarters, with none in the starting or ending stanzas. Elmhurst, for its part, hit at that 70 percent clip.
• ELM: 18 fast break points. The Cardinal pressure defense did do its part, but the Jays seemed like they had a pretty good grip on it. They were able to run the floor a decent amount and get some easy baskets. None more so than easily breaking the press of Trotter's game-tying three, and going tic-tac-toe to find Steemer for that game-winning layup.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ CAR 61 (14-4, 6-3), AUG 52 (7-11, 3-6)
• @ MIL 72 (6-12, 5-4), NPU 61 (3-15, 0-9)
• @ IWU 93 (18-0, 9-0), WHE 57 (9-9, 4-5)
• BYE: CRL (12-5, 7-1)

Final Thoughts

It has just been heartbreak after heartbreak with this team. After starting CCIW play 2-1, the Cardinals have dropped five of their last six. This also continues an infuriating pattern when playing the other DuPage County bird team: each of the last three seasons the Cardinals have won relatively easily in the first meeting of each season at Elmhurst (including a 20 point victory earlier this season) only to blow it at home on the return trip.

It was another rough game for Biz Daly as well, as she only went 1-10 from the field. Credit to Steemer for defense, but I also wonder a bit of Daly is starting to force it after the Carthage game. Hopefully she'll be able to find her form again soon.

It's getting late early for this Cardinal team; while they still find themselves in the hunt for a CCIW Tournament bid, a loss to a team they'd already beaten once hurts, and they remain in a tie for that final spot with this Blue Jay team who they now have a split with (which means they'll need a separate tiebreaker) and an Augustana team who they do have a win against already. It likely means they'll need to steal one against somebody above them the rest of the way, though they'll have a chance to do that when Millikin comes calling on Wednesday.