The Carthage College women's basketball team (18-6, 9-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) secured a berth in the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 15 with a 72-56 win over conference-opponent Elmhurst College (16-8, 7-6 CCIW) at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Ill. 

The Lady Reds remain in third place in the league, trailing first-place Illinois Wesleyan University (19-5, 12-1 CCIW) and second-place Wheaton College (Ill., 16-7, 9-3).

Illinois Wesleyan University clinched the CCIW title outright on Wednesday with a 75-63 win at Millikin University.  For the Titans, the conference championship is its sixth overall and its fifth in a row.  Illinois Wesleyan will play host to the Feb. 24-25 CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament at the Shirk Center.  The top-seeded Titans will play the fourth seed, either Elmhurst College or Millikin, in a semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., with Carthage College taking on Wheaton College (Ill.) in the other semifinal contest at 5 p.m.  The tournament-championship game will be on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

Carthage has qualified for the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament nine times in 10 years since the event began in 2003.  Only the 2005 team failed to qualify.  Of the nine teams, only the 2009 squad advanced to the championship game.  This will be Carthage's seventh conference-tournament trip to the Illinois Wesleyan University Shirk Center. 

In a low-scoring first period, Carthage and Elmhurst were tied, 14-14, at 5:05.  The Bluejays went up by four points, 20-16, with under a minute to play in the period and led, 20-19, at the break.  The Lady Reds tied the game, 30-30, at 15:48 and took a two-point lead, 34-32, at 14:38.  Carthage extended its lead to five, 39-34, at 12:35 before Elmhurst knotted things up, 39-39, at 11:49.  The Lady Reds used a 16-5 run to open up an 11-point advantage, 55-44, at 7:35.  Diana Jacklin scored three field goals in that 16-5 run.  Carthage made it a 16-point game, 68-52, at 2:07 and went on to win by 14 points, 72-56.

Carthage shot 44 percent (27-61), including three-of-nine three-pointers, while Elmhurst shot 40 percent (21-52), including five-of-13 from three-point range.  Neither team shot very well in the first half, with Elmhurst connecting at 26 percent (7-27) and Carthage at just 23 percent (7-30).  The Lady Reds converted 15-of-22 from the free-throw line, while the Bluejays made nine-of-13.  Carthage lost the rebounding battle, 40-32, but Elmhurst turned the ball over 22 times to just nine turnovers for the Lady Reds. 

Carthage's Cailee Corcoran (Jr. Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist), after making just three-of-11 first-half field goals, went seven-for-nine in the second period to finish with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-20 from the floor, along with four-of-seven free throws and five rebounds.  Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) scored 20 points on eight-of-17 shooting, along with four-of-seven from the free-throw line, seven rebounds and four assists.  Meghan Merklein topped the Bluejays with 14 points, while Megan Ney had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"This was a big win for us," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  "This will give us some momentum going into Saturday's Augustana game.  It was good to get back on track.  Even though we lost to Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan last week, we still feel like we can beat them." (courtesy of the Kenosha News)

Carthage wraps up its regular-season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 18 by playing host to conference-opponent Augustana College (Ill., 11-12, 3-9 CCIW) in a 5:30 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena  in Kenosha, Wis.