Carthage 60, North Central (Ill.) 48
KENOSHA, Wis. - The Carthage women's basketball hosted the North Central Cardinals for the final home game of the 2025-26 regular season. The Firebirds got off to a fast start and held on to the lead to earn a victory over the visiting Cardinals. 



Malia Green opened up the scoring for the Firebirds, making a layup on the first possession.The ensuing North Central possession lasted over a minute, ultimately resulting in a layup miss from Jocelyn Trotter. A three from Green with 6:47 in the quarter pushed the lead to 8-0 and forced a North Central timeout. The Cardinals made a run to close the gap at 10-7, but the run was ended by an and-one from Mallory Winters and a shot-clock violation forced by the Firebirds' defense. The two teams traded baskets and Carthage ended the first quarter with a 15-9 lead.

Grace Cord opened the second quarter with a block of Kaitlin Park on one end and a layup on the other. The teams traded baskets throughout the period with the Firebirds consistently holding a 10 point lead. Effective driving and cutting from the Carthage guards, paired with full-court pressure from Green briefly stretched the lead to 13, before an Ameli Sanchez three and two free throws from Dolly Smith brought North Central back within eight, heading to the break down 31-23.

Alaya Redditt converted an and-one to start the scoring in the third for the Cardinals. North Central brought the score within two on another three from Sanchez. The Firebirds proceeded to hold North Central scoreless for four and half minutes. Whitney Thompson found Green for a layup to put Carthage up 33-29 at the media timeout. North Central was forced to call timeout after Green blocked Trotter and found Cord for a full-court assist to extend the lead,  before Jessie Pakaski blocked a Grace Kieffer layup which bounced off of Kieffer and out of bounds to give Carthage the ball. A Sanchez three would provide North Central's only points over the last seven minutes of the third quarter, one that ended with Carthage in front 43-32.

Sanchez continued to lead the Cardinals by opening the fourth with an and-one to bring North Central back within single digits. Nora Ahram responded by drilling a midrange jump shot to put Carthage back up ten. Ahram continued to score the next eight Carthage points, with a three, a floater, and free throw. From there, Carthage remained in control and cruised to a 60-48 victory.


 

• Malia Green - 18 points*, 7 rebounds, 3 assists*
• Nora Ahram - 14 points, 3 rebounds
• Mallory Winters - 11 points, 3 rebounds
• Grace Cord - 8 points, 8 rebounds*

*led team in stat category







The Firebirds (14-10, 8-7 CCIW) return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21 as the team closes out the regular season on the road against Carroll in Waukesha, Wis. Action will be streamed live on the CCIW network. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.