The Carthage College women's basketball team (12-4, 3-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 33rd in the Jan. 18 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and tied for 41st place in the Jan. 18 "D3hoops.com" poll, defeated CCIW-opponent North Central College (5-11, 1-4 CCIW), 73-59, on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Carthage opened up an early, 8-0 lead, and the Lady Reds led by 14 points, 28-14, at 6:25. The Cardinals whittled the lead down to eight points, 30-22, at 3:53. The Lady Reds went back up by 14, 39-25, just before halftime and led by 14 points at the break, 39-25. Carthage opened the second half with a 9-2 run to go up by 21 points, 48-27, at 16:41. The Lady Reds led by as much as 26, 58-32, at 13:29. Carthage still led by 17 points, 64-47, at 6:01 before North Central closed to within 10, 64-54, at 4:16. A three-pointer by Dani Ripkey, her fifth of the game, put the Lady Reds up by 13 points, 67-54, at 2:58, and Carthage was never seriously threatened after that.
Carthage shot 52 percent (26-50), including 10-of-22 from three-point range, while North Central shot just 38 percent (18-47). The Lady Reds out-rebounded the Cardinals, 34-25. Dani Ripkey (Jr., Deerfield, Ill.) topped Carthage with 15 points on five-of-11 field goals, all from three-point range. Allison Groessl (Jr., Park Ridge, Ill./.Main South) came off the bench to score 13 points on five-of-nine shooting. Cailee Corcoran (So., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist), while limited to five points, pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. For North Central, Jackie Errico scored a game-high 28 points on nine-of-13 field goals, including five-of-seven from three-point range, along with a perfect five-of-five free throws and six rebounds.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the Lady Reds travel to Decatur, Ill., to take on conference-opponent and Millikin University (12-4, 4-1 CCIW) in a 2 p.m. contest at the Griswold Center. The Big Blue were ranked 33rd in the Jan. 18 "D3hoops.com" poll.