The Carthage College women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked No. 20 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today NCAA Division III poll and No. 28 in the "D3hoops.com" pre-season poll, opened its 2014-15 season on Saturday, Nov. 15 with a 70-49 win over Ripon College (0-1) at the Wisconsin-Stevens Point "Pointers Tip-Off Tournament" at the Berg Gymnasium in Stevens Point, Wis.  Luther College (1-0) was a 61-56 winner over UW-Stevens Point (0-1) in the other first-round game, and the Norse will meet the Lady Reds in Sunday's tournament-championship game at 3 p.m.
 
Kasey Kleiner (Sr., South Milwaukee, Wis./Somers-Shoreland Lutheran) opened the first half by hitting a 3 pointer from Erin Thomas (Jr., Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton) within the first 10 seconds of the game. The Lady Reds took an eight-point lead, 17-9, over the Redhat 10:20 and maintained control of the game throughout the first half. Ripon tried to battle back, pulling within three points, 23-20, at 7:41. However, Carthage out-shot the Red Hawks in the first half, shooting 58 percent (14-24), four of those from the three-point range, and with a score of 35-22. In the second, Thomas hit a 3 from Erin Quinn (Sr., Island Lake, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) at 19:46 to pull ahead 38-22. From there, the Lady Reds continued to capitalize and took a commanding 20-point lead at 49-29. Carthage kept their momentum going and finished out the game strong with a score of 70-49.
 
The Lady Reds shot 58 percent (27-46), including eight-of-18 from the three-point range, while the Red Hawks shot 33 percent (16-48), including four-of-13 three-pointers. Carthage had a 37-22 rebounding edge over Ripon. The Lady Reds got to the free-throw line 15 times and made 8, while the Red Hawks connected on 13-of-16 free throws.
 
Kleiner made five of her eight three-pointers for the Lady Reds and collected a total of 19 points, while teammate Alexis Hahn (Jr., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) went six for 10 and contributed 15 points to the Carthage victory. Thomas had 13 points and three assists and teammate Taylor Boardman (Jr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) acquired 10 points and 11 rebounds.