Box Score The Carthage College women's basketball team (17-4, 8-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 29th in the Jan. 31 “D3hoops.com” poll, saw a 15-point second-half lead almost disappear but hung on to outlast CCIW-opponent Millikin University (13-8, 5-5 CCIW), 67-66, on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill. 

The win extended the Lady Reds' current winning streak to five games. Carthage remains in second place in the CCIW, one game behind Illinois Wesleyan University (16-5, 9-1 CCIW).  The Titans were a 72-58 winner over North Park University on Saturday.
 
Millikin took a 16-13 lead at 12:24 following a technical foul on Cailee Corcoran and basket by the Big Blue's Cecily Aldridge.  The game was a seesaw affair for the rest of the period.  Millikin led by three, 25-22, at 8:20.  Carthage re-gained the lead, 28-27, at 5:37 on a layup by Corcoran.  A three-pointer by Dani Ripkey at 4:14 gave the Lady Reds a five-point lead, 34-29, and Carthage took a six-point lead, 38-32, at 1:36, which was also the halftime margin. 

The Lady Reds scored three quick field goals to open the second half, giving them a 12-point lead, 44-32, at 17:24.  Carthage upped its lead to 13 points, 49-36, at 15:14 before Millikin cut the lead to six, 49-43, at 12:55.  Back-to-back three pointers by Dani Ripkey at 12:34 and Haley Stercic at 11:59 gave the Lady Reds another 12-point lead, 55-43.  A trey by Gaby Chapa at 10:26 made a 13-point contest once again, 58-45.  Kristi Schmidt scored on a layup at 9:28 to give Carthage a 15-point lead, 60-45.  Chapa's field goal capped an 11-2 run.
 
With the game seemingly well in hand, Millikin came right back with an 18-4 run to pull to within a point.  Cailee Corcoran scored on a jumper at 7:48, and the score stood at 62-48.  Carthage went stone cold after that and didn't score another field goal.  After the Big Blue shaved the lead to five, 62-57, at 5:37, all scoring stopped for the next three and one-half minutes before Julia Roberts connected on a pair of free throws at 1:59 to cut the lead to three, 62-59. 

A free throw by Dani Ripkey at 1:36 finally got Carthage a point and a four-point lead, 63-59.  Heather Pruemer's jumper at 1:20 made it a two-point game, 63-61.  Diana Jacklin made the second-of-two free throws with 58 seconds remaining, giving the Lady Reds a 64-61 edge.  A layup by Cecily Aldridge at 50 seconds shaved the lead to one point, 64-63, capping the 18-4 Big Blue run.  Jacklin drained two free throws at 24 seconds to put Carthage up by three, 66-63.  Millikin's Beth Wellbaum missed what would have been a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds to go.  Cailee Corcoran rebounded for the Lady Reds, was fouled and made the front end of a one-and-one free throw to give Carthage a four-point lead, 67-63.  That free throw turned out to be crucial, as the Big Blue's Crystal Ziegler drained a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final, 67-66 margin.
 
Carthage, which entered the game leading NCAA Division III in field-goal percentage at .473, shot 45 percent (24-53), including 11-of-24 from three-point range, while Millikin shot just 32 percent (21-65), including seven-of-25 three-pointers.  Carthage held its opponent under 32-percent shooting for the fourth time in five games.  The Lady Reds converted eight-of-13 from the free-throw line, while the Big Blue connected on 17-of-20.  Millikin enjoyed a narrow, 39-36 rebounding advantage. 

Three Carthage players scored in double figures.  Dani Ripkey (Sr., Deerfield, Ill.) scored 13 points on four-of-eight three-pointers, along with one-of-two free throws.  Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill., Chicago-Marist) also had 13 points six-of-nine shooting, along with six rebounds, and Stephanie Kuzmanic (So., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) added 12 points. Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill., Morton West), while limited to seven points, blocked seven shots and pulled down eight rebounds.  Jacklin's seven blocks were three short of tying a Carthage record of 10 set by Barb Heinig in 1981.  Heather Pruemer led Millikin with game highs of 14 points and nine rebounds, while Julia Robert scored 12 points.

“Millikin did a great job making us think a little more than play,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  “When we were up by 12 points in the second half, I thought we were going to break things open even more, but we let them hang around.  It was an interesting clash of styles.  We weren't going to let them shoot the three, if we could help it, but they let all of their perimeter people take that shot.  It was a cat and mouse game, and they wouldn't let us get inside to either Diana Jacklin or Cailee Corcoran.  We tried changing offenses to make that happen, but we wound up winning the game just by standing up to them, defensively.  We also shot the three pretty well, and that helped.  The big play might have been Dani Ripkey getting to the free-throw line at 1:36.  I few win the rest of our games, we'll win a conference championship.  None of the last four games will be easy, but if we win all four, we win the league.”
 
Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 14-7, 7-3 CCIW) on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in a 7:30 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.