The Carthage College women's basketball team (24-3, 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, won the title game of the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 1 with a hard-fought, 63-59 decision over No. 30 Illinois Wesleyan University (19-8) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  With the win, the Lady Reds earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. 
 
Carthage got by fourth-seeded Elmhurst College (14-12), 82-73, on Friday, Feb. 28 in a semifinal game, with second-seeded and Illinois Wesleyan (19-7) defeating third-seeded and No. 39 Wheaton College (Ill., 19-7), 79-66, in the other semifinal contest.
 
In the title game, the first half was close, with neither team enjoying more than a four-point lead.  There were 11 ties and 11 lead changes in the period.  Carthage went up by six points early in the second half, 41-35, at 18:33, but an 8-2 Illinois Wesleyan run put the Titans up by two, 45-43, at 11:55.  IWU took a five-point lead, 52-47, at 10:29, but the Lady Reds erased that and tied the game, 53-53, at 8:41.  The Titans' last lead was 59-58 at 4:26 on a layup by Taylor Reaber.  Carthage took the lead, for good at 60-59, on a jumper by Michelle Wenzel with 2:51 left.  Stephanie Kuzmanic scored on a layup with 47 seconds remaining to make it 62-59, and a free throw by Kuzmanic with 10 seconds left closed out the scoring at 63-59.
 
Carthage shot 41 percent (25-61), including just three-of-16 from three-point range, while Illinois Wesleyan shot 40 percent (23-57), including four-of-16 three-pointers.  The Lady Reds got to free-throw line 15 times and made 10, while the Titans connected on nine-of-18.  Carthage had a narrow, 38-37 rebounding advantage.
 
Carthage's Michelle Wenzel (Sr., Darien, Wis./Delavan-Darien) led all scorers with 17 points on seven-of-12 field goals and three-of-four free throws, along with four rebounds.  Taylor Boardman (So., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) was the only other Lady Reds player in double figures, scoring 12 points off the bench on six-of-nine shooting and five rebounds.  Shelby Jackson led Illinois Wesleyan with 13 points and six boards, while Taylor Reaber added 10 points off the bench.

"Without doing the math," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero, "I would imagine that the seniors on both teams have seen each other play about 10 or 12 times.  There are no secrets anymore when we play Illinois Wesleyan.  The way they play, I don't know if 63-59 is their preferred way of doing things.  I thought our defense was really good in the second half, and we had 16 offensive rebounds to keep things alive.  We had key contributions all over the place, especially Taylor Boardman.  We don't press like they do, so we need to be in the right spots to make it difficult for them to score.  We hung on and got the win.  Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan really loaded up on Stephanie Kuzmanic this weekend, so she turned into a distributor, rather than a scorer.  That may change a bit this weekend as we get into NCAA play."
 
The NCAA will announce the field and the first-and-second round sites for its 64-team NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Monday, March 4 at 1:30 p.m., CDT at www.ncaa.com.