The Carthage College women's basketball team (20-6, 10-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), seeded third, opened play at the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday, Feb. 24 with a 70-64 win over second-seeded Wheaton College (Ill., 18-8, 11-3 CCIW) in a semifinal game at the Illinois Wesleyan University Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. Top-seeded and No. 17 Illinois Wesleyan (21-5, 13-1 CCIW) defeated fourth-seeded Millikin (15-11, 7-7 CCIW), 96-75, in the other semifinal contest. Carthage will play Illinois Wesleyan in the tournament-championship game on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
Wheaton took an early, 13-9 lead, but three-straight three-pointers by Dani Ripkey gave Carthage an 18-17 lead at 10:56. The Lady Reds took their first lead since the opening basket, 22-21, at 5:58, but the Thunder closed out the half on a 9-4 run to take a four-point halftime lead, 30-26. Wheaton scored the first basket of the second half to open up a seven-point lead, 33-26. Ripkey's fourth three-pointer of the game made it a two-point game, 33-31, at 17:29, but the Thunder went back up by six, 37-31, at 16:47. The Lady Reds got it to within one, 39-38, at 14:29.
After Wheaton went up five, 43-38, at 13:48, Carthage took off on a 15-0 run to take a 10-point lead, 53-43, at 9:36, as the Thunder went scoreless for four minutes. Ripkey's fifth three-pointer made a two-point contest, 43-41, at 13:06. A three by Allison Groessl at 11:45 gave the Lady Reds a one-point lead, 45-43, and a pair of layups by Diana Jacklin capped the 15-0 run. Wheaton's Laura Karsten scored on a jumper at 13:48, and that was the last Thunder field goal until Lindsey Brenneman scored on a three-pointer at 3:36. Carthage led by as much as 16 points, 61-45, at 4:43. Then just when it seemed the game was well in hand, the Lady Reds turned the ball over on three-successive possessions. Wheaton converted two of those into three-pointers by Brenneman, and suddenly, the lead was down to seven, 61-54, at 3:16. The Thunder closed to within three, 62-59, at 1:25. Wheaton's Brooke Olson missed what would have been a game-tying three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining, but Gabby Chapa converted two free throws at 33 seconds to put the Lady Reds up by five, 64-59. Carthage went on to win by six points, 70-64.
Carthage shot 43 percent (20-47), including nine-of-16 from three-point range, while Wheaton shot just 31 percent (20-65), including eight-of-27 three-pointers. The Lady Reds converted 21-of-26 free throws, while the Thunder made 16-of-20. Carthage won the rebounding battle, 42-37.
Dani Ripkey (Sr., Deerfield, Ill.) scored a game-high 20 points on six-of-10 field goals, including six-of-nine from three-point range. Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) had 18 points on six-of-12 shooting, along with six-of-nine free throws, a game-high and a career-high 16 rebounds, 14 of those on the defensive end and four blocked shots. Lindsey Brenneman topped Wheaton with 15 points. Elisabeth Potts had 12 points, and Laura Karsten added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists.
"Wheaton is a very good team and a tough, physical team," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. "The difference in the second half was we stopped getting beat to the loose balls and rebounds. Kristi Schmidt did a great job in getting some defensive rebounds in the second half. It took everything we had to win this game, but this time of the year is like that. The other thing you see this time of the year are games being won by players who are not necessarily your star players. Not that Dani Ripkey hasn't been one of our best players over the past four years, because she has, but she and Gabby Chapa helped win this game, Ripkey with her three-pointers and Chapa on the free-throw line late in the game. Wheaton is a tough team to beat, and those last five minutes were giving me flashbacks to some games a few weeks ago."
"I asked the girls earlier," concluded Bernero, ""how much they would enjoy walking out of here with a tournament trophy. We've seen both Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan twice, so there won't be any surprises. We know their styles, and we know what's ahead of us."