The Carthage College women's basketball team (12-2, 3-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked 16th in the Jan. 7 "D3hoops.com" poll and 16th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today NCAA Division III poll, defeated CCIW-opponent North Central College (8-6, 1-2 CCIW), 119-78, on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

Carthage opened up a 12-point first-half lead, 20-8, at 11:19, and the Lady Reds pulled away to a 23-point margin at halftime, 55-32.  The lead went to 31 points, 63-32, at 18:49 second period, with Carthage leading by as much as 43 points, 111-68, at 3:45.  The Lady Reds wound up winning by 41 points, 119-78.  The 119 points is a Carthage game record.

Carthage shot 68 percent (52-76), including five-of-eight from three-point range, while North Central shot just 37 percent (27-74), including 11-of-141 three-pointers.  The Lady Reds out-rebounded the Cardinals, 48-31.  Carthage was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line, while North Central connected on 13-of-22.

Three Carthage starters scored in double figures.  Michelle Wenzel (Sr., Darien, Wis./Delavan-Darien) led the way with a game-high and career-high 26 points on 12-of-13 field goals and two-of-three free throws, along with nine rebounds.  Kristi Schmidt (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) scored 21 points on seven-of-13 shooting and a perfect seven-of-seven free throws, along with eight rebounds, and Stephanie Kuzmanic (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) had 10 points and a school-record 17 assists. 

Taylor Boardman (So., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) came off the bench to score 16 points with seven rebounds, and Alexis Hahn (So., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park), also off the bench, added 14 points and four boards. As a team, the Lady Reds collected a school and CCIW-record 52 field goals, a school-record 35 assists, and the two teams combined a Carthage game-record 49 three-point field-goal attempts.  Larynn Shumaker led the Cardinals with 13 points.

"We got a lot of layups tonight," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  "Last year was my first time seeing this North Central system, and maybe I'm doing a better job now explaining it to our kids.  We moved our guards around to beat their press.  Once we got the ball past the defense, we often had the ball in Stephanie Kuzmanic's hands in the middle of the court.  She's such a good passer, and she only limits herself at times when she gets board and wants to try something fancy.  Seventeen assists and four turnovers is good stuff.  Gabby Chapa also played a great game.  It's a different style of play, that's for sure, but as a team, you have to handle what's in front of you.  They turned it over more than we did, and we didn't press them for a second.   Wednesday's game at Wheaton is now huge, and this is the first game this season among the undefeated teams.  The next game will be two like-minded teams that are both very good defensively."

Carthage travels to Wheaton, Ill., on Wednesday, Jan. 15 to take on No. 14 Wheaton College (Ill.), 12-1, 3-0 CCIW in a 7 p.m. game at King Arena.