In a game that was billed as one of the better first-round matchups in the tournament, the two teams didn't disappoint. The Carthage College women's basketball team (21-7), ranked 34th in the Feb. 28 "D3hoops.com" poll, knocked off No. 19 Wisconsin-Whitewater (22-7), 74-68, on Friday, March 2 in a first-round NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship game at DePauw University's Neal Fieldhouse in Greencastle, Ind.
No. 4 DePauw (27-1) wdefeated Westminster College (Mo., 22-5) in Friday's other first-round game. Carthage advances to a second-round game on Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m., EST versus DePauw. The sectionals will take place on Friday-Saturday, March 9-10, with the national championship at Hope College's DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich., on Friday-Saturday, March 16-17.
This was Carthage's second win over Wisconsin-Whitewater in two NCAA tournament games. The Lady Reds defeated the Warhawks, 79-74, in a second-round game in 2010 at Kachel Fieldhouse in Whitewater, Wis.
After Carthage took a quick, 4-0 lead. Wisconsin-Whitewater settled into a 9-0 run to take 9-4 lead at 15:28. The Lady Reds came right back with six-straight points to re-gain the lead, 10-9, at 13:27. Back-to-back three-pointers by Haley Stercic and Gabby Chapa gave Carthage its largest lead of the half, 26-21, at 4:53. Kaitlyn Thill's four-point play at 3:47 brought the Warhawks back within one, 28-27. The game was tied at halftime, 34-34.
With the score tied at 37-37 at 17:48, Carthage score eight unanswered points to take a 45-37 lead at 15:39. Allison Groessl connected on a pair of three-pointers in that 8-0 run, sandwiched around a layup by Stephanie Kuzmanic. A three by Stercic at 14:29 gave the Lady Reds a nine-point lead, 48-39. Wisconsin-Whitewater came right back with a 12-0 run to take a three-point lead, 51-48, at 10:31. A three-point play by Diana Jacklin at 5:24 gave Carthage a five-point lead, 62-57. Cailee Corcoran's short jumper at 2:09 made it a six-point game, 66-60, and Jacklin's breakaway layup at 1:44 made it 68-60.
Kaitlyn Thill's three-point play with 40 seconds remaining cut the lead to three, 68-65 but a pair of free throws by Stephanie Kuzmanic upped Carthage's lead to five, 70-65. The Warhawks weren't quite done. A three-pointer by Mary Merg at 21 seconds made it 70-68, but two more free throws by Kuzmanic at 20 seconds gave the Lady Reds a four-point edge, 72-68. Two free throws by Dani Ripkey with 12.6 seconds made it a 74-68 final.
Carthage shot 45 percent (26-61), including seven-of-18 from three-point range, while Wisconsin-Whitewater shot just 36 percent (23-64), including eight-of-22 three-pointers. The Lady Reds converted 15-of-20 free throws, while the Warhawks made 14-of-19. Carthage had a narrow, 40-37 edge in rebounding and turned the ball over 21 times to 18 for UW-Whitewater.
Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) led Carthage with a game-high 23 points on eight-of-17 field goals, along with seven-of-10 free throws, nine rebounds four assists and three blocked shot. Allison Groessl (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) had 15 points on five-of-10 shooting, including four-of-seven three-pointers, while Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) added 11 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and four assists. Mary Merg led Wisconsin-Whitewater with 15 points, and Kaitlyn Thill had 13 points and five assists.
"It was a heck of a game," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. "They're good, they're physical, and they can shoot the ball. We did some good stuff over the course of the game and did some really dumb stuff. In the end, we made some plays and persevered. At this of year, the teams with the little extra toughness are the ones who win games. By and large, we had a solid effort against a really good basketball team. Allison Groessl did a great job on the boards tonight, and Michelle Wenzel also did a really nice job in a few short minutes. She's playing behind an Al-American-type player in Diana Jacklin, but with media time outs in these games, I can rest Diana a little bit more than usual. Wisconsin-Whitewater's game is to get to the free-throw line, and they're very good at that and very good when they get there. We went to a zone to break up that rhythm and then finished up the game in a man-to-man. It was a great atmosphere with a lot of our fans here and our pep band playing in the stands. I spent a lot of time this week watching Whitewater tape, so I don't know a lot about either DePauw or Westminster."
Carthage has made two other appearances in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Coach Tim Bernero's 2010 team advanced to the sectional semifinals in St. Louis, Mo., before losing to the George Fox University. Coach Rich Fanning's 1996 squad made the Lady Reds' first-ever NCAA appearance but lost to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill.) in a first-round game in Wheaton, Ill.