Game Notes: (WBK) Millikin University @ North Central College (12/1/18)

Final Score
Millikin 73, NCC 69

Game Summary
The Cardinals (1-4, 0-1) got the early jump in this one, scoring the game's first three points, but the Big Blue (2-5, 1-0) got their offense going into high gear, following that up with a 13-2 run to take control of the game and led 18-9 after one. North Central fell apart, committing some mind-boggling turnovers while Millikin took advantage, leading 37-15 late in the half before the Cardinals scored the quarter's final five points. North Central came out invigorated in the second half though, scoring eight straight to get back into the contest. Millikin would push the lead back as high as 15, but the Cardinals fought back to make it a 54-48 game after three. The Big Blue would push the lead back as high as 12 in the final frame, but the Cardinals went on a 13-2 stretch spanning five minutes to get the lead down to one, though a missed free throw kept the Big Blue in front, and Millikin made enough shots in the final two minutes to escape with a road victory.

Key Players

• Aubrey Staton (MIL): 4-9 FG (3-6 3PT), 6-8 FT; 17 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl. There were a few key players I could have gone with for the Big Blue, but Staton led the team in scoring, and she had three of the four Millikin blocks in this game. The fact that she was able to hit outside shots was a big help for Millikin.
• Alanna Newsome (NCC): 9-22 FG(3-9 3PT), 3-6 FT; 24 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl. Newsome was a spark plug off the bench, especially in the second half, when she scored 18 of her game-high 24 points. The free throws are a little concerning, but it's still early in the season.
• Tyonne Howard (NCC): 5-18 FG (1-3 3PT), 1-2 FT; 12 pts, 1 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl. Howard was a mixed bag tonight; the shooting numbers weren't great, as she missed a few looks at the rim, but hit some shots when the team needed her to. She committed eight turnovers, which is high, but she's a freshman, and she makes up for it by distributing the ball well and wreaking some havoc defensively.

Key Stats

• NCC: 17-25 FT (68.0%). This mark is a little higher than their season average coming in, and shooting at this mark is an acceptable number in a vacuum. But when you lose by four, I can't help but look at these numbers. Even making three or four of these changes how the game ends to some degree.
• MIL: 31 turnovers. This is an absurd number, reminiscent of the System years. They were actually pretty evenly distributed (15 in the first half, 16 in the second half), but this is a mind-boggling number for a team that won. Maybe even more mind-boggling: senior guard Yanni Sadler had 14 of these turnovers. The Cardinals got 12 of these off steals, while there were a number of travels called in this one.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ IWU 85 (5-2, 1-0), CAR 71 (3-2, 0-1)
• WHE 81 (4-2, 1-0), @ NPU 32 (3-4, 0-1)
• @ AUG 69 (4-3, 1-0), CRL 56 (3-4, 0-1)
• Bye: Chicago 73, @ ELM 54 (3-3, 0-0)

Final Thoughts

My dad attended tonight's game, and at halftime we agreed that the first half was probably the worst half of basketball we'd ever seen. For me, it was a matter of context too: I would have expected to be losing that badly against the Wheaton's or Illinois Wesleyan's of the world, but not against Millikin. Both North Central coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax and Millikin coach Olivia Lett after the game noted that it was "a tale of two halves," which it absolutely was.

Coach Bax's general thought about it was that it turned into an exciting game, but being down 22 was too much. But she followed that up with "We're young, we'll get there," which is absolutely right. This team has some good pieces; they just need to put a complete game together.

It doesn't get much easier this coming week, with a trip to Augustana on the docket. But the Cardinals follow that up with another home Saturday date, this time against North Park.