Box Score
The Carthage College women's basketball team (10-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 14th in the Dec. 15 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/
USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and 24th in the Dec. 15 “D3hoops.com” poll, won the Oglethorpe University “Holiday Classic” on Tuesday, Dec. 29 with an 88-66 win over Oglethorpe (6-4) at the Dorough Fieldhouse in Atlanta, Ga.
Hope College (10-1) pounded Piedmont College (2-7), 87-57, in Tuesday's consolation game. On Monday, Dec. 28, Carthage stunned Hope, 51-47, with the host-Stormy Petrels winning over Piedmont by a 66-56 margin. Hope was ranked was ranked first in the Dec. 15 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/
USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and third in the Dec. 15 “D3hoops.com” poll. The next “D3hoops.com” poll will be released on Tuesday night, Dec. 29.
Carthage never trailed against Oglethorpe. The Lady Reds stormed out to a 14-0 lead at 15:52 and led by as much as 26 points, 37-11, at 6:16 first period. Carthage led by 19 at halftime, 48-29. The second half was more of the same. Carthage went back up by 26 points, 61-35 at 15:42. The Lady Reds made it a 30-point game, 77-47 at 7:12 and led by as much as 31 points on two occasions, the last at 83-52 at 3:48. Carthage went on to win by 22, 88-66.
The Lady Reds shot 55 percent (34-52), while Oglethorpe shot just 38 percent (21-55). Carthage won the battle of the boards, 41-28, over the Stormy Petrels. Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West), the tournament MVP, scored a game-high 23 points for the Lady Reds on 11-of-14 field goals and one-of-one from the free-throw line, along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Dani Ripkey (So., Deerfield, Ill.) had 15 points on six-of-eight shooting, including three-of-five from three-point range. Rosie Dorn (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican) scored 11 points with eight rebounds and four assists, while Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa-Pleasant Hill-Southeast) had seven points and eight assists. Sarah Jones topped Oglethorpe with 15 points, while Rena Crossland added 12 points.
The Oglethorpe tournament concluded Carthage's non-conference schedule. The Lady Reds open CCIW play on Tuesday, Jan. 5 by playing host to Wheaton College (Ill., 6-4, 0-0 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. On Saturday, Jan. 9, Carthage travels to Bloomington, Ill., to take on another number-one team, Illinois Wesleyan University, in a 2 p.m. tilt at the Shirk Center. The Titans were ranked first in the Dec. 15 “D3hoops.com” poll and second in the Dec. 15 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll.
