Box Score

Click here to see Katie Klemke's shot on "D3hoops.com"

It was almost too much Lyndsie Long, but the Carthage College women's basketball team (19-3, 9-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 11th in the Feb. 9 “D3hoops.com” poll, 13th in the Feb. 9 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and second in the Feb. 10 NCAA Division III Central Regional poll, prevailed over CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College (14-8, 7-4 CCIW), 85-84, on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Ill. Long scored a CCIW-record 45 points, and Carthage saw a 17-point lead disappear in the second half, but Katie Klemke's 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Lady Reds a come-from-behind win. The victory leaves Carthage in second place in the CCIW, one game behind Illinois Wesleyan University (21-1, 10-1).

In the first half, Carthage led from the opening tip, as the Lady Reds jumped out to a nine-point lead, 17-8, at 12:35. Carthage went up by 10 points, 26-16, at 9:12. After the Bluejays pulled to within five, 33-28 at 6:16, Carthage took off on a 12-point run to take a 17-point lead, 45-28, at 2:13. Cailee Corcoran scored six of those 12 points. The Lady Reds led by 16 at halftime, 46-30. In the second half, Elmhurst out-scored Carthage 17-11 in the opening minutes to pull to within 10, 57-47, at 14:17. Trailing by nine, 61-52, at 13:24, the Bluejays made it a three-point game, 61-58, at 11:33 on a three-pointer by Lyndsie Long. The Lady Reds went back up by seven, 69-62 at 7:22, before the Bluejays ran off eight unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, 70-69, at 5:34 on a pair of free throws by Long.

The lead changed hands four times over the next five minutes, as Long connected on a pair of three-pointers to go over the 40-point mark. Carthage was trailing by a point, 78-77, when Long struck again with a three-point play at 1:24 to put the Bluejays up by four, 81-77. A three-pointer by Dani Ripkey with 51 seconds to go brought the Lady Reds back to within one, 81-80. Once again, Long had the answer. With 18 seconds on the clock, she rebounded her own missed layup and scored on a follow-up for 45 points and a three-point Elmhurst lead, 83-80. Diana Jacklin hit two free throws with eight second to go to make it a one-point game once again, 83-82. Following a Carthage timeout, Dani Ripkey fouled the Bluejays' Erika Scwartz, who made the front end of a one-and-one for an 84-82 lead but missed the back end. Jacklin grabbed the rebound, and Katie Klemke banked home a 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to give Carthage an amazing, 85-84 victory.

Carthage shot 58 percent (34-59), including 61 percent in the first half (19-31), while Elmhurst shot 49 percent for the game (30-61). The Bluejays out-rebounded the Lady Reds, 36-27. Four Carthage players scored in double figures. Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) had 24 points on 10-of-13 field goals, along with four-of-five free throws and eight rebounds. Katie Klemke (Sr., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) had 16 points on a perfect four-of-four from three-point range, along with seven assists. Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast Polk) scored 12 points, and Rosie Dorn (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican) added 10 points.

The Bluejays' Lyndsie Long scored 45 points on 16-of-28 field goals, including eight-of-13 three-pointers, along with five-of-six free throws and 11 rebounds. Long broke a CCIW game record of 40 points set by Mrs. Tim Bernero, the former Rachel Pearson, against Illinois Wesleyan in 1994. Long also tied a conference game record with 16 field goals. The field-goal mark was set by Bernero in that Illinois Wesleyan contest and subsequently matched by Millikin University's Lindsay Ippel versus Augustana College (Ill.) in 2007. On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Lady Reds play host to conference-opponent North Central College (5-17, 2-9- CCIW) in a 5 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.