NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Carthage women's basketball team has been selected to finish fourth in the 2025 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, the conference announced Friday.

CCIW POLL RESULTS

1. Illinois Wesleyan – 62 (6 first-place votes)
2. Carroll (Wis.) – 59 (3 first-place votes)
3. Elmhurst – 38
4. Carthage – 37
5. Wheaton (Ill.) – 37
6. North Central (Ill.) – 35
7. Augustana (Ill.) – 30
8. Millikin – 18
9. North Park – 8

The Firebirds enter the 2025-26 campaign following a 17-9 overall record and 9-7 mark in CCIW play during the 2024-25 season. The team finished third in the conference, averaging 63.5 points per game while shooting 41.1% from the field, 29.3% from three-point range, and 67.3% from the free-throw line. Carthage also averaged 37.1 rebounds and 13.0 assists per game.

Defensively, the Firebirds led the CCIW in scoring defense at 58.2 points per game and in three-point field-goal defense, holding opponents to just 26.3% from beyond the arc. The team averaged 39.1 rebounds and 14.3 assists per game.

Head coach Megan Jones returns to the bench for her third season at the helm of the Carthage women's basketball program. Assistant coach Madisen Nitsch also returns, while the Firebirds welcome graduate assistant coach Katie Wilhelmi.

Senior Malia Green returns to lead the Firebirds this season. Green, a Madison, Wis., native, ranked second on the team in scoring last year, averaging 9.5 points per game on 44.3% shooting, while leading the team with 36 made three-pointers. She also paced the Firebirds with 16 blocks and finished second in steals with 42.

Other returners include seniors Nora Ahram, Alyssa Orozco, and Jessie Pakaski, as well as junior Grace Cord and sophomore Delaney Elsmore. Jones also adds a freshman class of four newcomers: Brooke Baechtold, Izzy Ensenberger, Brooke Jordal, and Sophia Ynclan.

Carthage opens the 2025-26 season on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Concordia (Wis.) in Mequon, Wis. The Firebirds return to Tarble Arena on Saturday, Nov. 15, for their home opener against Edgewood at 2 p.m. Carthage will then travel to Michigan for a pair of games against Hope and Franciscan before closing November with home contests against Coe and Wis.-River Falls.

CCIW play begins Dec. 3 when the Firebirds travel to Naperville, Ill., to face North Central.

Other notable home contests include Carroll (Dec. 6), Wheaton (Dec. 13), St. Norbert (Dec. 16), Elmhurst (Jan. 3), North Park (Jan. 7), Illinois Wesleyan (Jan. 21), Augustana (Jan. 24), Millikin (Feb. 7), and North Central (Feb. 18).

Carthage women's basketball tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks. Fans unable to attend can catch all the action live on the new CCIW Network, powered by HUDL. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.