Last night gave way to a huge win for #21 Chicago. Not only did the Maroons back up their 8-0 record with a victory over #13 Wisconsin-Whitewater, but it was also Chicago’s first “big” win of the year. Coming into the matchup, their most notable win was a road defeat of Carroll, 70-61.

It seemed for the first three quarters that, despite what Chicago did defensively, the Maroons could not find a rhythm offensively, a testament to Whitewater’s defensive effort. Defense kept Chicago in the fight entering the fourth quarter, but still, trailing 45-35 with 10 minutes left, it seemed the Maroons’ first loss of the year might come in the very near future. In fact, Whitewater hit a three 1:30 into the fourth, taking an 11-point lead.

Then the comeback began.

A 9-2 Chicago run in the span of about three minutes cut the deficit to four, 50-46. Sophia North then took charge, scoring the Maroon’s next 7 points, the final two of which took the lead, 53-52. And Chicago never looked back. The hosts walked away with a 63-58 win, and an incredible resume boost in the process.

But what went so well for Chicago in that final quarter? What did the Maroons do right? I tried to answer a few of these questions as reflected on the victory this morning. Here’s a few of my thoughts…

For one thing, Sophia North got the ball in space, able to score with remarkable ease. She had been Chicago’s main source of offense all evening, with 15 through three quarters. But once the 4th began, perhaps due to the score, perhaps due to Whitewater’s defense seeming more spread out, North put 11 on the board. That included the seven-point span with under five minutes left that eventually gave the Maroons the lead. She was 4-of-6 from the field, and 2-of-2 at the FT line in the 4th.

Chicago NEVER sent Whitewater to the free-throw line in the fourth, a rare occurrence in tight games. Especially from a team who needed to play aggressive defense down the stretch in order to have a chance at victory. But Chicago was incredibly disciplined on that end of the floor in the final quarter, and forced the Warhawks to shoot the ball, rather than attempt to draw fouls. That might be the most impressive statistic, in my opinion.

Speaking of the free-throw line, the Maroons made plenty of trips there throughout the fourth, finishing 10-of-12 at the line. Six of those attempts came in the final 20 seconds, when Whitewater had no choice but to intentionally foul and hope Chicago missed. But the Maroons did not, and the ability to convert at the line down the stretch will serve Chicago well in UAA play, where I anticipate a lot of single-digit results this season.

Another factor was how well Chicago matched up with Whitewater in the post. Aleah Grundahl had a total of five points in the contest, and was held scoreless on three shots in the five minutes she played in the fourth. Whitewater’s go-to offensive weapon in the paint, Chicago made it tough on her to find open looks, which forced more three-point attempts from the Warhawks.

Those are four takeaways I had from that fourth quarter. If you have others, please drop them below. Everyone sees the game from a different perspective, which is one of the things I enjoy so much about sports across the board.

Getting to some other results from last night, here’s a few thoughts I had as I scrolled through the D3hoops.com scoreboard and checked in on various games…

Albertus Magnus actually did give Springfield a good test, and kept it closer than I had anticipated, considering the final was 79-65. Springfield only led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter, but outscoring Albertus Magnus by a combined 38-27 in the second and third quarters was the difference. Strong showing from Springfield’s Kayla Madden, who had 27 points, on 10-of-21 shooting, and was 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

The NACC is going to be a fun conference to follow this year. And the preseason “favorite” is not even in the top 4 in the standings right now! Concordia-Chicago is 5-0 in NACC play, St. Nobert is 4-0, Concordia (WI) is 4-1, and Aurora is 3-1. Aurora looked impressive in its eighth win of the year last night, trouncing Eureka (who admittedly is not a team in the national conversation at just 2-6), 98-63. Still, the offense from Aurora has been stellar. The Spartans have scored 90 points three times already this year.

Keep an eye on UW-Stevens Point in the WIAC. Matt Hockett has his team off to an 8-2 start, with notable wins at Millikin and Carroll, along with a victory over UW-Platteville that looks really good right now. The two losses to UW-Stout and St. Nobert aren’t bad either. Stevens Point is now ranked No. 40 by Massey, and has a matchup against Wheaton (#64 by Massey) on Dec. 29 that could be another resume builder. That said, 2-5 St. Mary’s (MN) gave UWSP a real fight last night, though UWSP came out with an 81-79 OT win. Alexa Thomson’s layup gave the Pointers the lead with 59 seconds left, and UWSP held St. Mary’s scoreless for the final minute.

Amongst the biggest jumps forward in Massey’s ratings was Capital, who took down Olivet, 48-38, last night at home. Capital, now 8-2, rose 11 spots to #89 according to Massey, with the victory.

We will see what happens in tonight’s action. No particularly notable matchups, though I am interested to see if Greensboro moves to 5-0 in USAC play with a win over Ferrum tonight. Greensboro has looked fairly good this season, though the schedule that they’ve played hasn’t been particularly impressive. Still, if they keep playing well in the USAC, an automatic bid could be coming their way. Enjoy the evening!