The Carthage College women's basketball team (17-8, 8-6, 4th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) closed out its regular-season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 19 with a 73-70 loss to CCIW-opponent Millikin University (16-8, 8-5 3rd CCIW) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
There were seven lead changes and four ties in the first period. Carthage led by as much as five points, 20-15, at 10:21, and Millikin had a five-point edge, on two occasions, the last at 29-24 at 5:33. The game was tied, 31-31, at halftime. The Lady Reds opened the second half with a 16-5 run to take an 11-point lead, 47-36, at 14:55. The Big Blue answered with a 15-2 run of their own to take a two-point lead, 51-49, at 9:53. The game went back and forth for the next nine minutes. Millikin went up by as much as eight points, 60-52, at 5:07. Carthage went back ahead, 61-60, at 2:17 and still led by a point, 66-65, with 40 seconds left following a three-pointer by Heather Gilmore.
A pair of free throws by Millikin's Beth Wellbaum with 30 seconds to go gave the Big Blue the lead to stay, 68-66. Taylor Tondelli sank two free throws for the Lady Reds at seven seconds to make it a one-point game, 69-68. Wellbaum drilled two more free throws at six seconds to make it 71-68. Gilmore scored on a layup with 1.4 seconds to cut the lead to 71-70, but Wellbaum hit two final free throws to end the scoring at 73-70.
Millikin shot 46 percent (21-45), including six-of-17 from three-point range, while Carthage shot 39 percent (25-51), including five-of-15 three-pointers. Millikin's Julia Robert scored 19 points on six-of-12 field goals, along with six rebounds. Elise Wildman had 16 points, including 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. Beth Wellbaum had 14 points, and Heather Pruemer came off the bench to score 11 points. Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast) topped Carthage with 19 points on seven-of-12 shooting, while Diana Jacklin (Jr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) scored 17 points with six rebounds.
Carthage opens play in the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday, Feb. 25 in a semifinal game at the Illinois Wesleyan University Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. This will be Carthage's eighth tournament appearance since the event began in 2003 and its sixth in a row. The Lady Reds missed qualifying only for the 2005 event. First-place Illinois Wesleyan University secured the home court for the tournament, along with at least a share of its fifth conference title and its fourth in a row, with a 78-50 win over North Central College on Thursday in Naperville, Ill. Carthage, the fourth seed in the tournament, will play top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan on Friday at 8 p.m., with second-seeded Wheaton College (Ill.) taking on third-seeded Millikin at 6 p.m.