https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2024/9...edule.aspx

Much like the men, the ladies face an extremely challenging non con schedule for the first year head coach.

7 P6 games highlight the schedule, plus multiple AAC teams, and opponents from the Valley, Horizon, OVC, and the MAC.

On paper, I don’t see a lot of wins in the non con.

HOWEVER, Coach Corry Irvin is a Chicagoland native with deep, deep roots, a massive history of success, and comes from Mississippi State where she was assistant.

Having such a massively successful coach with a long history in the Chicago Public League might be the most excitement the most exciting development in Chicago State women’s basketball history, although I’ve neglected to highlight it until now.

“The Elgin, Illinois native's most recent role as assistant coach at Mississippi State University saw her help guide the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament in her first season at MSU after a three-year hiatus. Her leadership, coupled with her extensive recruiting prowess, contributed to the team's success, including a top-ranked class in 2023.

Irvin has deep roots in basketball across the state of Illinois. Prior to her tenure at Mississippi State, she served as head coach at Saint Xavier University, leading the Cougars to back-to-back Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championships with a record of 46-8 (.851) and 32-1 (.969) in the CCAC. Her remarkable coaching career also includes an illustrious stint at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, where she solidified the Dolphins as a powerhouse where she had a career record of 449-77 (.854) and won three Illinois State Championships (2008, 2012 and 2014) during her 18-year tenure.”

In state recruiting connections has to help.

(09-20-2024 11:50 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  In state recruiting connections has to help.

Forget in state, City of Chicago connections.

Women’s sports and recruiting are so different than men. Connections and personality mean more. Dreams of going pro mean less. Parents worry more about their daughters and more would like to keep them close to home.

The right coach (like they now have, I believe) can build a very strong program based primarily off girls from Chicago.

18 years of very, very high level success in the Chicago Public League is all she needs to start a steady flow. There is plenty of recruiting competition, but I doubt there is one women’s college head coch in the country right now with the connection to the CPL she has. That’s their big advantage right now.

CPL connections are great, but being at Whitney Young specifically is a big advantage. It’s the cream of the crop, a top school, nationally known and garners respect. Recruits from other schools will already have a favorable view of this coach based on that fact alone.

One of my favorite things is when former rivals from high school end up on the same college team. Once she gets the stream flowing her way, she’s going to draw a lot of talent.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Cougars WBB getting some win in the NEC.

Looking at the NEC last season, excluding the conference champion, Sacred Heart, who has since departed, the other 8 teams combined only had 20 non conference wins between them. And several of those 20 were versus non D1 competition. Another 2 were wins against 1-26 Chicago State, both less than 10 points. So Chicago State, with only total win versus an NCCAA team, was already within 10 points, twice, of a middle of the pack NEC team.

It’s a weak league. The conference runner up was 4-13 out of conference, the 3rd place team was
3-12. I mean, yikes. I think this league will give the women’s team a fighting chance to build the program up.

https://northeastconference.org/sports/wbball

https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-...tball-poll

The Cougar women will open with a preseason top 10 opponent, in addition to the exciting opportunity to host two P5 teams.

8 Iowa State 11/4, Season opener
Arizona @ Chicago State 11/16
Mississippi State@ Chicago State 12/8

In what appears to be a year dedicated to building toward the future, the Cougars showed they will certainly be able to compete for some wins now- not just down the road.

After a series of bad losses to some of the nations elite level teams, the Cougars played Northern Illinois and kept it very close. It was a loss, but it was close until the end and the ladies at least got to play a complete game. Being down by an insurmountable margin most of the game doesn’t bring out the level of intensity needed to learn to win.

The Cougars got down by 20, but went on an 11-2 run early in the 4th. It was a 6 point game with around minutes left. The Cougars outscored the Huskies in both the first and fourth quarters. Final was 77-68.

Loss or not, that game should be a big boost to the team.

Good sign for the program.

https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2024/1...tball.aspx

After opening with a top 10 Iowa State, then Florida, Arizona and Butler, the women had much more competitive loss at Western Illinois, then a really close loss to Northern.

But now it’s back to the grind of pay games, with trips to Oklahoma State, Bradley, SMU, and Illinois State, Loyola, Tulsa. There’s also a home game in the mix versus Mississippi State, but it won’t be any easier at home versus the Bulldogs.

Conference should be a welcomed relief.

WBB lost to Tulsa 76-46. It appears to be just another bad loss for the Cougars. But it was a 9 point game with just 8 minutes remaining before Tulsa went on a tear and ended the game with a 23-2 run. Seems like an unusual ending to a game that was not out of reach until late.

Freshman Aiyanna Culver had her 5th double digit scoring output and lead the Cougars with a career high 20 points.

https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2024/1...tulsa.aspx

NEC WBB Net rankings

FDU 208
Mercyhurst 289
Stonehill 315
LIU 336
Central Connecticut 341
St Francis 354
LeMoyne 356
Chicago State 358
Wagner 362

This league is terrible. It has 4 of the bottom 9 teams in the country.

Chicago State is still winless, but within 4 spots of almost half the league, and ahead of one team.

The Cougars have shown huge improvement already, and have already been hanging with some much better teams than this group, so I’d expect to get a fair number of conference wins once the circuit begins.

(12-04-2024 06:53 AM)Todor Wrote:  The Cougars have shown huge improvement already, and have already been hanging with some much better teams than this group, so I’d expect to get a fair number of conference wins once the circuit begins.

I sure hope so. This "0-for" situation with both teams is getting a little discouraging.

WBB took Loyola Chicago, 7-4, into OT before falling by 2. It was a close game throughout.

Frustratingly, the Cougars briefly built a 7 point lead with 3 minutes left in the game, but 2 Loyola 3’s wiped that away. Loyola outscored them 9-2 in the final few mixtures of regulation. On the other hand, the Cougars showed they are good enough to play with better teams and to even lead near the end of the game. This appears to be more just how things worked out in this game, rather than a trend though.

They didn’t get the win, but they are coming together and should be able to get some league victories soon.

With their leading scorer back from injury things look a lot better.

Close. Come on conference season!

Conference opens Thursday at home versus Wagner. Wagner women only have 1 D1 win, so the Cougars should be in the game and hungry to get a win.

I have no reason to pick against the Cougars in this one. They seem to be healthy and have most if not all players available, and have been showing they are a capable team against some much higher level competition, despite the lack of wins.

The Cougar women couldn’t get it done against Wagner. That’s a shame because Wagner is one of the worst teams in the country. It was a 12 point loss, and was neck and neck until the final 2:30.

Fortunately, there are more horrible NEC teams that the Cougars will face, their chances of getting some wins are pretty high

In a sign of good things to come, the women picked up their first win of the season in their second NEC matchup versus Long Island. They won 64-59 in OT and are now 1-1 in the league.

After a close call with Wagner, it was nice to shake off the non conference and get a new start on the season against more similar teams.

Aiyanna Culver was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the opening week of league play. Her performance helped propel the Cougars to their first win of the season.

She had a nice stat line of 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in Chicago State’s first two games as a league member

https://northeastconference.org/news/202...e-1-6.aspx

Another game that shows how competitive Chicago State can be in the NEC- the women lost to Stonehill, in Easton, 77-75, in 2 OT. Stonehill is 3-0 and in first place in the NEC right now, and the Cougars are right there with them, even on the road.

To anyone watching men’s or women’s NEC basketball, don’t be fooled by the Cougars’ few wins, or impressed by how many wins most of the league has.

Truth be told, a very high percent of those wins are versus non D1 teams, and neither Cougars squad has played any such games all season. In fact, both Cougar squads have played extremely challenging schedules, with almost entirely road games.

The Cougar women have likely played more P5 teams than the rest of the league combined. Similar for the men. It’s all just warm up for league play and to put some much needed cash into the programs.

Culver earned her second straight NEC Rookie of the Week honor this week. Her production keeps climbing, averaging around 14 ppg and hitting 20 in several outings. A true freshman, she is from Queens, NY.

https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2025/1...onors.aspx

Women gave away what should have been a win to previously winless LeMoyne by 6. The Cougars started off hot, up 17-4, but LeMoyne immediately got it back close, where it stayed the rest of the game.

The Cougars played 15-3 (5-0) FDU to a 6 point loss in the road, 49-43.

The loss shows what they are capable of, but another loss regardless.