The Carthage College women's basketball team (23-3, 13-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked 10th in the Feb. 25 "D3hoops.com" poll, 10th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today NCAA Division III poll, and second in the Feb. 26 NCAA Division III Central Region poll, got by fourth-seeded Elmhurst College (14-12), 82-73, on Friday, Feb. 28 in a semifinal game of the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. 

In the first semifinal contest on Friday, second-seeded and No. 30 Illinois Wesleyan University (19-7) defeated third-seeded and No. 39 Wheaton College (Ill., 19-7), 79-66.  Carthage will take on Illinois Wesleyan in the 7 p.m. tournament-championship game on Saturday, March 1
 
Elmhurst led most of the first half.  The Bluejays took a nine-point lead, 16-7, at 12:06 and were still up by seven points, 27-20, at 5:16.  The Lady Reds took their first lead, 28-27, at 3:43, but Elmhurst went back up as the half ended and led by two at the break, 34-32.  Carthage took a seven-point lead, 47-40, at 15:58 second half, but Elmhurst came back to tie the game, 54-54, at 11:36.  The game went back-and-forth for the next six minutes.  The two teams were tied, 67-67, at 5:38 and again at 69 all with 4:12 left.  The Bluejays took their last lead, 71-69, at 3:41 on a pair of free throws by Claire Monroe.  The Lady Reds went up to stay, 72-71, on a three-pointer by Kasey Kleiner at 2:59.  Carthage converted nine-of-10 free throws down the stretch for the final, nine-point margin, 82-73.
 
Carthage shot 55 percent (26-47), including five-of-10 from three-point range, while Elmhurst shot 42 percent (25-60), including eight-of-28 three-pointers.  The Lady Reds got to free-throw line 31 times and made 25, while the Bluejays connected on 15-of-18.  Elmhurst out-rebounded Carthage, 32-28.
 
Carthage's Michelle Wenzel (Sr., Darien, Wis./Delavan-Darien) had a big night, scoring a career-high and a game-high 37 points on 13-of-17 field goals and 11-of-13 free throws, along with 10 rebounds.  Kristi Schmidt (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) was the only other Lady Reds player in double figures with 18 points on five-of-six shooting and seven-of-10 free throws, along with five boards.  Stephanie Kuzmanic (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling), who was named the CCIW's "Most Outstanding Player" earlier in the day, was limited to seven points and six assists and did not score until the 4:12 mark second half.  

​Devin Vaughn and Mel Schwerdtmann each had 15 points for Elmhurst, while Karen Senette chipped in 11 points.  Carthage coach Tim Bernero, named CCIW "Coach of the Year" on Friday, collected his 200th career win (200-96, 11 years).

"We didn't do a very good job defending Elmhurst," admitted Carthage coach Tim Bernero. "They hurt us inside a bunch in the first half, and they hurt us off the dribble in the second half.  We made enough stops in the second half to win the game, but you wouldn't have guessed that Elmhurst only scored 33 points here five or six weeks ago.  Give them a lot of credit.  They gave us all they had, and Michelle Wenzel bailed us out.  She made shots and made free throws.  Kristi Schmidt also played great   It was like an NBA game for awhile in the second half with neither team really stopping the other.  Then finally, Kasey Kleiner hit that three-pointer that hit about 12 parts of the rim to put us ahead for good.  We won the high-scoring game against Illinois Wesleyan here, and we lost the low-scoring game down there, I guess we'll see which way tomorrow's game goes."