Box Score

The Carthage College women's basketball team (20-3, 10-2 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, defeated CCIW-opponent North Central College (5-18, 2-10 CCIW), 85-67, on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.   The win left the Lady Reds in second place in the CCIW, one game behind Illinois Wesleyan University (22-1, 11-1 CCIW).

There were four lead changes and two ties in the first half. North Central led by as much as seven points, 12-5, at 15:08. With the score tied, 21-21, at 6:28, the Lady Reds closed out the half on a 14-6 run to take an eight-point lead at the break, 35-27. Carthage opened the second half with a 15-7 run to go up by 16 points, 50-34, at 15:44. The Cardinals whittled the lead down to nine points, 52-43, at 11:33, before Carthage went back up by 13, 59-46, at 9:52. The Lady Reds led by as much as 20 points, 84-64, with 53 seconds to play, en route to an 18-point decision, 85-67.

Carthage shot 53 percent (30-57), while North Central shot 51 percent (23-45). The Lady Reds had a narrow edge in rebounding, 30-28. All five Carthage starters scored in double figures. Rosie Dorn (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican) led the way with 17 points on six-of-eight field goals and five-of-six free throws, along with six rebounds and five assists. Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast Polk) scored 16 points with six rebounds and eight assists. Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) had 14 points and four boards. Katie Klemke (Sr., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) also had 14 points, while Dani Ripkey (So., Deerfield, Ill.) chipped in 11 points. Latrice Newson scored a game-high 23 points for North Central on six-of-13 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, along with nine rebounds and five assists. Christine Karl added 17 points. 

“I don't know how good a defensive game we played,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero, “but offensively, we kept doing what we've done of late, which is to get balanced scoring out of our starters. It's win number 20, and we're the first school in the state of Wisconsin to get there, We're proud of that. We did some standing around and let the game get a little close, but we did the job in the second half and made enough stops to stretch the score out. Once North Central went into a zone defense, we were able to make enough three-pointers to pull them out of that. We wanted to keep the game up-tempo, and our zone trap defense jumped started us a little bit. There are no easy games in this league. Even though our defensive intensity wasn't very good, we played well enough to get by. We still have a lot to play for in Tuesday's North Park game. It's a chance to get our 21st win and set a school record, and we're still playing for seeds in both the conference tournament and the NCAA championship.”

Carthage closes out its regular-season home schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 16 by playing host to CCIW-opponent North Park University in a 7:30 p.m. game, also at Tarble Arena.