At the halfway point in the CCIW schedule, the Carthage College women's basketball team (15-3, 7-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) remains undefeated in the conference race at 7-0 after getting by North Park University (12-6, 3-4 CCIW), 56-53, on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the North Park Gym in Chicago.
The Lady Reds jumped out to an 18-9 lead at 12:52 and led by 13 points, 27-14, at 8:09. Carthage led by seven at the break, 30-23. The Vikings whittled the margin down to two points, 42-40, at 9:25. The Lady Reds went back up by seven, 47-40 at 7:53 before North Park tied the game, 51-51, at 3:07. Back-to-back layups by Stephanie Kuzmanic and Kristi Schmidt at 2:56 and 2:25, respectively, put Carthage up by four, 55-51. A layup by the Vikings' Sarah Peterson at 2:06 made it 55-53, and Carthage's Gabby Chapa hit the first of two free throws at 1:27 to close out the scoring at 56-53.
Carthage shot 43 percent (22-51), including just two-of-11 three pointers, while North Park shot 36 percent (19-53), including six-of-16 from three-point range. Carthage had a 39-28 rebounding advantage. Stephanie Kuzmanic (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) led the Lady Reds 15 points on six-of-15 field goals, along with three-of-three free throws, four rebounds and four assists. Kristi Schmidt (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) had 12 points on five-of-nine shooting, along with five rebounds. Cailee Corcoran (Sr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) added eight points with a game-high 12 boards. Shaina Yalda led the Vikings with a game-high 17 points.
"Road wins are always tough to get," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. We weren't as efficient tonight on the offensive end, but we scored when we needed to just enough times to win. We can't do better than we did the first time through the conference, but we need to keep getting better as we go through the second half of the schedule. "
Carthage plays host to conference-opponent Millikin University (5-12, 0-7 CCIW) on Saturday, Jan. 26 in a 5 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena.