After losing to No. 16 Ohio Northern University (1-0), 64-56, on Friday, Nov. 15, the Carthage College women's basketball team (1-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) took out is frustration on Kalamazoo College (0-2), 88-47, on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the consolation game of the Manchester University "Main View Tip-Off Tournament" at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena in North Manchester, Ind. The Lady Reds were ranked 12th in the "D3hoops.com" pre-season poll.
Manchester (1-0) outlasted Kalamazoo (0-1), 58-52 in overtime, in Friday's opening round, and the game, but the Spartans (1-1) fell to Ohio Northern (2-0), 53-48, in the championship game.
In the win over Kalamazoo, Carthage never trailed, and the Lady Reds jumped out to a 22-point lead, 32-10, at 8:40. The lead grew to 26 points at the break, 51-25. Carthage continued to pull away in the second period, going up by as much as 51 points, 86-35, at 4:09. Carthage cruised to a 41-point victory, 88-47.
The Lady Reds shots 57 percent (33-58), including 67 percent in the first period (20-30) and 10-of-20 from three-point range. The Hornets connected at just a 23 percent rate (13-56) but hit seven-of-19 from three-point range. Carthage had a 39-36 rebounding edge.
Three Lady Reds starters scored in double figures, with Stephanie Kuzmanic (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) leading the way with 17 points on seven-of-nine field goals and two-of-two free throws, along with seven rebounds and eight assists. Kuzmanic was named to the all-tournament team. Haley Stercic (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Marist) had 12 points on four-of-six three pointers, and Kristi Schmidt (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community), also named to the all-tournament team, added 11 points. Alexis Hahn (So., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) came off the bench to score 13 points on five-of-eight shooting with seven boards. Hannah Maness led Kalamazoo with nine points.
Carthage opens at home on Wednesday, Nov. 20 with a 7 p.m. game versus Beloit College (0-0) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.