2021-22 NCC Women's Basketball Preview

"Soon, the echoes of #THREEEEEEEEE will return to downtown Naperville."

And by soon, I mean... Tuesday, November 9th.

It's been a crazy year and a half-plus, transitioning to a world of working from home on the regular, going sportsless for months at a time, and even when we first came back, often having those without crowds. But we're starting to get back to normal, and I'm looking forward to it as the NCAA Division III hoops season is officially underway around the country. And as I prepare to begin my 11th season as the resident idiot on the microphone at Merner Fieldhouse, I figure it's time to take a look at the upcoming campaign. Since the women's team tips first, we'll start with them.

North Central Cardinals

2021: 2-10 (9th in CCIW); lost CCIW Quarterfinals

2021 Recap
I know it's often said of teams with poor records that their record isn't a good indicator of how good a team actually is, and I firmly believe that with last year's output from North Central. The Cardinals had multiple leads going into fourth quarters last year, and if you were to set up a Pythagorean win percentage model for them, they'd have this Cardinal team winning five or six games instead of the two they did. Funny enough, the two games they won were at home against Millikin (the eventual CCIW Tournament Champion) and at Illinois Wesleyan (who finished 3rd in the conference and made the title game against the Big Blue). Talking with head coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax last week, they lost a couple heartbreakers early in pretty much back-to-back-to-back-to-back days, and things kind of snowballed. With a normal season on tap, hopefully that snowball effect can be avoided.

Key Returners
The Cardinals bring back a bunch of their key pieces from last year's squad. Most notable is the return of two-time All CCIW Second Team guard Allison Pearson. She's the main backcourt piece alongside the Kowalczyk twins, who will both see a good amount of action. Megan McClure got a few starts last season, and will probably also see a good chunk of time as will Natalie Stavropolous. In the frontcourt, while losing Bekah Foley and her defense will hurt, there's still good pieces with Mitrese Smith and IxChel Leeuwenburgh leading the charge.

New Faces
There are a few freshmen on the squad this year. Megan Duffy was a three year starter at guard at Gilmour Academy in Ohio; Abby Cox, who also played volleyball for NCC this fall, is set for her second sport out of Bloomington Central Catholic; Lexie Hernandez, who rewrote Plainfield North's three point record books and has apparently shot well in practice; and Ceyda Yucel out of Istanbul are some of the notable freshman on the roster. I'll be interested to see how much playing time they all get.

Non-Conference Schedule
Long gone are the days of just a single home non-conference game, which I'm beyond thankful for. It'll be nice to open the season Tuesday, November 9th as the non-conference series with St. Mary's College out of Indiana gets renewed; the Cardinals visited Notre Dame, Indiana in 2019 and conclude this set of the home-and-home in Naperville. It gets tough after that, with the Cardinals trekking up to Holland for the Hope College Tip Off Tournament, where they'll face Mount Union and then either Edgewood or the host Flying Dutch (only the number one team in the country; no biggie). The road swing continues after that with visits to Concordia's Wisconsin and Chicago, followed by a renewal of the Chicago-Maple Avenue rivalry with Benedictine in Lisle this year. A trip to the University of Chicago concludes the time away from Merner in early December. Amidst conference play, the Cardinals will get a couple more out of league home dates against UW-Stevens Point and Aurora on New Years Eve; the first matchup against the Spartans since 2013.

CCIW Outlook

I shouldn't complain too much about disrespect, given this team finished 2-10 last year, but at the same time this is a ton of disrespect. NCC is picked to finish eighth this year, which I think really overlooks the talent that does come back. I'm not saying the Cardinals should be a favorite for the conference, because they aren't, but I think they can compete with the bulk of the conference this year.

Millikin is looking to repeat as conference champions and is favored to do so behind a preseason All American in Elyce Knudsen. Wheaton remains Wheaton, though maybe not as strong as in recent years, but still tough. It's weird to see Illinois Wesleyan fall like they did, but when you lose one of the top players in the country in Kendall Sosa, you're going to take a tumble. I'll be interested to see where the pieces fall elsewhere in conference; I feel like the Cardinals can take care of business against Augie and possibly even Carthage as well as Elmhurst, who's picked below them, and I definitely think they can go toe-to-toe with the North Park's and Carroll's of the world.

Final Thoughts
I like the experience that this team brings back, and I like the heart that they bring back as well. The pattern last season of going ice cold late in games was alarming, but I feel like it's something that, given that we have a full season and we're not cramming a ton of games in, should hopefully taper off. Mitrese Smith had set a goal of the team scoring 90 a game... which happened a ton back in the System days, but I don't know that I see it happening this year. Low to mid-70's would be good, and would have this team in pretty good shape. All in all, I think this is a team that definitely should compete for one of the top six spots in the conference.

2021-22 Prediction: 12-13; 8-8 CCIW (5th in CCIW)