With one game left in the first half of the CCIW schedule, the Carthage College women's basketball team is in control of the conference race at 6-0 following a 68-36 win over Wheaton College (Ill.,13-3, 4-2 CCIW) on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Carthage jumped all Wheaton in the early going, opening up an 18-point lead, 20-2, at 7:42, as the Thunder missed their first 15 field-goal attempts. Wheaton closed to within 11 points, 23-12, at 5:08, but an 11-2 Lady Reds run put Carthage up by 19, 33-14, at 1:24. The Lady Reds led by 16 points at the break, 33-17. The Thunder made one more mini-run, pulling to within 13 points, 36-23, at 17:25 second half, but Carthage took off on a game-sealing, 18-4 run to go up by 27 points, 54-27, at 8:57. The Lady Reds went on to win by 32, 68-36.
Carthage shot 45 percent (25-56), including eight-of-22 three pointers, while Wheaton shot just 27 percent (15-56) and connected on just three-of-17 from three-point range. Carthage had a whopping, 47-31 rebounding advantage. Three Carthage players scored in double figures. Stephanie Kuzmanic (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) led the way with 15 points on six-of-11 field goals, including three-of-four three-pointers, along with six rebounds and nine assists. Erin Quinn (So., Island Lake, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) came off the bench to score 14 points on six-of-nine shooting, along with four assists, and Kristi Schmidt (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) added 11 points and eight rebounds. Cailee Corcoran (Sr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) had six points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Hannah Considine led the Thunder with 14 points.
"Maybe I'm underestimating my own team," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. "After we stumbled a little bit over Christmas break, our defense has really improved. I think those December losses hardened us to a degree. We're not the biggest team, but we're pretty tough and physical inside. We're not the biggest team on the perimeter, but we get to the right sports, and that's gratifying. We make it really hard for the other team to score. Not in my wildest dreams did I think we were going to beat a 13-2 team by 30 points. We're still long way from the end, but we're looking pretty good right now. Erin Quinn was great tonight. She just gets better and better, and she took advantage of her opportunity in this game. Wheaton is missing some people, and I'm sure by the time we play them next, they'll be looking to get even. Everyone we've played so far will be coming for us in the second half and coming hard."
The Lady Reds travel to Chicago on Wednesday, Jan. 23 to take on conference-opponent North Park University (12-5, 3-3 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at the North Park Gym.