The Carthage College women's basketball team (14-3, 4-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 17th in the Jan. 19 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and 19th in the Jan. 19 “D3hoops.com” poll, upended CCIW-opponent Millikin University (9-8, 3-3 CCIW), 62-41, on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

 

The Lady Reds never trailed in the game.  Carthage, which connected on its first eight field-goal attempts, jumped out to a 9-0 lead and went up by 16 points, 21-5, at 11:23.  The lead went to 19 points, 38-19, at 1:35, and the Lady Reds led by 17 at the break, 38-21.  Carthage went up by 18 points, 46-28, at 14:31 second half.  The Lady Reds led by as much as 22 points on two occasions late in the game and went on to win by 21, 62-41.  Carthage shot 54 percent (25-46), including 67 percent in the first half (16-24), while Millikin shot just 32 percent for the game (13-41).  The Lady Reds out-rebounded the Big Blue, 32-21, while both teams turned the ball over 22 times.  Carthage's Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) scored a game-high 17 points on eight-of-11 field goals, along with three rebounds and three assists.  Rosie Dorn (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican) was the only other Carthage player in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.  Elise Wildman topped the Big Blue with 10 points. 

 

“We were able to take away some of Millikin's three-point shooting,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. “We also got off to a good start, and that always helps. Our plan today was to contest the three-point shot and to make Elise Wildman work for her points, and we did a great job of executing that. When we've been good, we've kept opponents in the 50-point range, so 40s are even better. The Illinois Wesleyan game on Jan. 9 was what it was—they're very good. Against Elmhurst on Jan. 12, we just didn't guard the people we needed to guard, and that was frustrating, since we did that so well earlier in the year. Since then, the schedule has been a bit more favorable for us, and we've tried to get back to playing well, defensively. We're a pretty efficient offensive team. I'm not that smart a guy, but I know if we can stop people a little bit more and get some rebounds, we'll be pretty successful.”

 

Carthage travels to Chicago on Tuesday, Jan. 26 to play CCIW-opponent North Park University (4-13, 1-5 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at the North Park Gym.