February 8, 2012
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevemarovich@tds.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage Web Page: http://athletics.carthage.edu/index.aspx
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Women’s Basketball Loses a 51-49 Slugfest to Wheaton (Ill.) on Feb. 8;
No. 26 Lady Reds Play Host to First-Place and No. 25 Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday
This Week: The Carthage College women's basketball team (17-5, 8-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 26th in the Feb. 7 “D3hoops.com” poll and 28th in the Feb. 7 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, lost a slugfest to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 15-7, 8-3 CCIW), 51-49, on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. On Saturday, Feb. 15, Carthage plays host to conference-opponent and No. 25 Illinois Wesleyan University (17-5, 10-1 CCIW) in a 5:30 p.m. contest, also at Tarble Arena.
Last Week: Carthage bombed CCIW-opponent North Park University (8-12, 2-7 CCIW), 79-47, on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at the North Park Gymnasium in Chicago. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Lady Reds escaped Decatur, Ill., with a 67-66 win over conference-opponent Millikin University (13-8, 5-5 CCIW) at the Griswold Center. The Millikin win extended the Lady Reds’ current winning streak to five games. Carthage remains in second place in the CCIW, one game behind Illinois Wesleyan University (16-5, 9-1 CCIW). The Titans were a 72-58 winner over North Park University on Saturday.
Next Week: Carthage travels to Elmhurst, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 15 to play CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College in a 7:30 p.m. game at R.A. Faganel Hall. On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Lady Reds wrap up their regular-season schedule by playing host to conference-opponent Augustana College (Ill.) in a 5:30 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Looking at Illinois Wesleyan: Mia Smith (271-108, 14 years thru Feb. 10) coaches the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans, who went 27-6 last year, won the CCIW title with a 13-1 record and defeated Wheaton College (Ill.), 67-57, in the title game of the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Shirk Center. The Titans went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship after losing to Washington University (Mo.), 87-77, in national semifinals. This year’s team, ranked 25th in the Feb. 7 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and 26th in the Feb. 7 “D3hoops.com” poll, brings a 17-5 mark (10-1 CCIW) into Saturday’s Carthage game after blowing North Central College, 95-54, on Wednesday in Bloomington, Ill. Illinois Wesleyan leads the Carthage series, which dates to 1986, 29-23, and the Titans have won 15 of the last 17 meetings. One of the Lady Reds’ two wins over the last 17 contests was a 63-55 decision last Jan. 29 in Bloomington, Ill. Illinois Wesleyan won this year’s earlier game, 70-69, on Jan. 14 when the Titans’ Michelle Bilek drained a three-pointer with 2.8 seconds to play.
Looking at Elmhurst: Tethnie Werner (44-34, 3 years entering the season) coaches the Elmhurst College Bluejays, who went 10-15 last year (5-9, 5th CCIW). This year’s team, with a 16-6 overall mark (thru Feb. 8) is still in line for a berth in the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 7-4 league mark, even after an 83-75 home loss to Millikin University on Wednesday. Elmhurst travels to Augustana College (Ill.) on Saturday before playing host to Carthage next Wednesday. The Lady Reds lead the series with the Bluejays, which dates to 1975, 45-15, and Carthage has a 4-3 edge over the last seven games in the series, including a 72-53 decision on Jan. 25 at Tarble Arena.
The CCIW Race: Illinois Wesleyan University can clinch at least a share of the CCIW title with a win over Carthage College on Saturday, Feb. 11. Carthage College and Wheaton College (Ill.) can still claim at least a share of the championship. The Lady Reds would need to win their three remaining games with Illinois Wesleyan, Elmhurst College and Augustana College (Ill.) and would need the Titans to lose to either Elmhurst or Millikin University next week. Wheaton (Ill.) would also need Carthage to defeat Illinois Wesleyan, and the Thunder would have to win their three remaining contests against North Central College, North Park University and Augustana College (Ill.).
2011 CCIW Tournament: Carthage (17-9, 8-6, 4th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), the fourth seed, lost to top-seeded and No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan (22-4, 13-1), 77-69, on Friday, Feb. 25 in a semifinal game at the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Illinois Wesleyan Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. Second-seeded Wheaton College (Ill., 19-6, 11-3) edged third-seeded Millikin (17-9, 9-5), 58-55, in the earlier semifinal game Illinois Wesleyan (23-4) defeated Wheaton (Ill., 19-7), 67-57, in the Saturday, Feb. 26 championship game. This was Carthage’s eighth tournament appearance since the event began in 2003 and its sixth in a row. The Lady Reds missed qualifying only for the 2005 event. Carthage defeated the Illinois Wesleyan, 63-55, on Jan. 29 at the Shirk Center.
2011 NCAA Division III Championship: Armed with the CCIW’s automatic qualifier, Illinois Wesleyan University played host to first and second-round games in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan (24-4) defeated Webster University (17-11), 82-70, in a first-round game on Friday, March 4, with No. 39 Wisconsin Lutheran College (26-3) winning over Wisconsin-La Crosse (20-8) by a 73-59 margin. Illinois Wesleyan defeated Wisconsin Lutheran (26-4), 84-69, in a Saturday, March 5 second-round game. The Titans (26-4) won a Friday, March 11 sectional-semifinal game over Coe College (26-4), 77-74, at Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Quandt Fieldhouse. George Fox University (24-5) defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point (27-3), 71-63 in the other sectional-semifinal game. Illinois Wesleyan (27-4) nipped George Fox (24-6), 61-60, in the Saturday, March 12 sectional-championship game. The Titans (27-5) lost in a national-semifinal contest to Washington University (Mo., 25-5), 87-77, on Friday, March 18 at the IWU Shirk Center. Amherst College (31-1) defeated Christopher Newport University (29-4), 69-59, in the other semifinal contest. Amherst (32-1) won the national title with a 64-55 win over Washington (Mo., 25-6), while Christopher Newport (30-4) defeated Illinois Wesleyan (27-6), 64-58, in the consolation game.
Home Court Advantage: Since Tarble Arena opened in January 2009, the Lady Reds have a 31-9 home record (.775).
Non-Conference Success: Since Tim Bernero took over head coaching duties in 2004, Carthage has a 70-28 non-conference record in the regular season (.714 thru Jan. 3).
Lady Reds on WLIP-AM: For the second-straight year, Carthage football and basketball will be broadcast on WLIP-AM Radio (1050) in Kenosha, Wis. Veteran Kenosha radio sports announcer John Weiser, "The Voice of the Red Men and the Lady Reds," will handle the play-by-play chores, with Tom Roders providing color commentary. Each broadcast begins 15 minutes prior to tipoff with the Red Men/Lady Reds Basketball Pre-Game Show. The 2011-12 broadcast schedule includes games against Benedictine University (Ill.) on Nov. 22, Loras College on Dec. 7, Beloit College on Dec. 12, North Central College on Jan. 4, Millikin University on Jan. 7, Illinois Wesleyan University on Jan. 14, North Central (Ill.) on Jan. 28, Millikin on Feb. 4 and Illinois Wesleyan on Feb. 11. WLIP-AM, the home of Carthage football in the 1970s, will audio stream its broadcasts, and that stream will also continue to be available on the Carthage College web site at http://www.carthage.edu/ais/webcast/. Women’s basketball coach Tim Bernero will be a weekly guest on the Bill Lawrence Show on WLIP throughout the season. Coach Bernero will be on the show every Friday morning at 6:20 a.m. In addition, Weiser will play host to a 15-minute “Carthage Insider” sports show on Saturday basketball doubleheader game days, 45 minutes prior to the first game.
Live Video: All Carthage women’s basketball games at Tarble Arena feature live video steaming. A page of links to each event is available at http://live.carthage.edu. When he is broadcasting, John Weiser's WLIP-AM feed will be used as the audio. Virtually all of the streams are also featured at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/carthage-athletics
The Coach: Tim Bernero is in his ninth season as head coach in 2011-12 (147-85, 9 years thru Feb. 10). With Carthage’s win over Coe College on Nov. 27, 2010, Bernero passed Diane Mizerka as Carthage’s winningest women’s basketball coach. Mizerka went 116-74 from 1968 to 1980. The women’s basketball assignment is Bernero’s first head coaching assignment after 16 seasons as an assistant men’s coach, the last seven at Carthage (1997-2003). Before starting at Carthage in the 1996-97 academic year, Bernero spent nine years as an assistant men’s basketball coach, two years at Elmhurst College (1995-96), three years at North Park University (1992-94) and four years at the University of Chicago (1988-91).
The Polls: Defending-national-champion Amherst College (22-0, 20 first-place votes) was ranked first in the Feb. 7 “D3hoops.com” poll, followed by the University of Chicago (20-0, 4 first-place votes) second, George Fox University (21-0, 1 first-place vote) third, DePauw University (20-1) fourth, Calvin College (20-1) fifth, William Paterson College (21-1) sixth, the University of Mount Union (20-1) seventh, the University of Mary Washington (21-0) eighth, Lewis & Clark College (19-2) ninth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (19-3) 10th, the University of Rochester (17-3) 11th, national runner-up Washington University (Mo., 16-4) 12th, Juniata College (21-1) 13th, Franklin College (20-1) 14th and the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 20-1) ranked 15th. CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University (16-5) was ranked 25th and Carthage College (17-4) 26th in the “D3hoops.com” poll.
Amherst (22-0, 5 first-place votes) was also ranked first in the Feb. 7 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, followed by Chicago (20-0, 3 first-place votes) second, George Fox (21-0) third, DePauw (20-1) fourth, Calvin (20-1) fifth, William Paterson (21-1) sixth, Mary Washington (21-0) seventh, Mount Union (20-1) eighth, Lewis & Clark (19-2) ninth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (19-3) 10th, Juniata (21-1) 11th, Franklin (20-1) 12th, Rochester (17-3) 13th, Hope (18-3) 14th and St. Thomas (Minn., 20-1) ranked 15th. CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan (16-5) was ranked 23rd and Carthage (17-4) 28th in the WBCA poll.
Chicago (20-0 overall record, 20-0 in-region mark) was ranked first in the Feb. 8 NCAA Division III Central Region poll, followed by Wisconsin-Stevens Point (19-3, 18-2) second, Washington (Mo., 16-4, 15-3) third, CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan (16-5, 12-5) fourth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire (17-5, 17-4) fifth and Carthage (17-4, 15-4) ranked sixth.
NCAA Statistics: Carthage leads NCAA Division III in field-goal percentage with a .472 mark thru Feb. 5.
The Conference: The CCIW, in its 66th season as of 2011-12, first sponsored women's basketball as a championship sport in the 1986-87 season. Since then, Millikin University has won or shared a league-leading 11 titles. Wheaton College (Ill.) has won six times, including a shared title in 2005 and outright championships in 2006 and 2007. Augustana College (Ill.) and Illinois Wesleyan University have won five each, with Carthage College and North Park University winning one championship each. Carthage shared the 1996 title with Millikin. In a pre-season poll released on Oct. 27, the CCIW coaches picked Carthage (4 first-place votes, 45 points) to win the 2011-12 title, followed by defending-champion Illinois Wesleyan (3 first-place votes, 44 points) second, Wheaton (Ill., 1 first-place vote, 38 points) third, Millikin (33 points) fourth, Elmhurst College (24 points) fifth, North Park (20 points) sixth, North Central College (11 points) seventh and Augustana (Ill., nine points) eighth.
CCIW Player of the Week: Carthage College center Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) was named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin “Women’s Basketball Player of the Week” on Feb. 6 for the second time this season. Jacklin, who also earned “player of the week” honors on Jan. 3, scored a game-high 22 points on nine-of-13 field goals and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds in the Lady Reds' 79-47 win over North Park University on Feb. 1. In a 67-66 win over Millikin University on Feb. 4, Jacklin was limited to seven points but blocked seven shots and collected eight rebounds.
CCIW Statistics: Carthage’s Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) is ranked fourth in CCIW scoring (14.2 points per game thru Feb. 10), fourth in field-goal percentage (.542) and ninth in rebounding (5.9 per game). Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) is sixth in scoring (13.1 points per game), first in field-goal percentage (.580), first in blocked shots (2.77 per game), second in rebounding (8.5 per game), 12th in steals (1.45 per game) and tied for 14th place in assists (2.23 per game). Haley Stercic (So., Chicago, Ill./Marist) is third in three-point field-goal percentage (.453). Allison Groessl (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) is fourth in three-point field-goal percentage (.450) and 10th in assists (2.86 per game). Dani Ripkey (Sr., Deerfield, Ill.) is 10th in three-point field-goal percentage (.310) and 13th in assists (2.55 per game). Stephanie Kuzmanic (So., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) is tied for sixth place in assists (3.41 per game) and tied for 13th place in steals (1.41 per game). As a team, Carthage is ranked second in scoring offense (65.2 points per game), first in scoring defense (52.6 points per game), second in scoring margin (+12.6 points per game), seventh in free-throw percentage (.656), first in field-goal percentage (.468), second in three-point field-goal percentage (.352), first in rebounding margin (+5.2 per game), first in blocked shots (5.23 per game) and eighth in home attendance (172 per game).
Feb. 4 Millikin Game Notes: Millikin took a 16-13 lead at 12:24 following a technical foul on Cailee Corcoran and basket by the Big Blue’s Cecily Aldridge. The game was a seesaw affair for the rest of the period. Millikin led by three, 25-22, at 8:20. Carthage re-gained the lead, 28-27, at 5:37 on a layup by Corcoran. A three-pointer by Dani Ripkey at 4:14 gave the Lady Reds a five-point lead, 34-29, and Carthage took a six-point lead, 38-32, at 1:36, which was also the halftime margin. The Lady Reds scored three quick field goals to open the second half, giving them a 12-point lead, 44-32, at 17:24. Carthage upped its lead to 13 points, 49-36, at 15:14 before Millikin cut the lead to six, 49-43, at 12:55. Back-to-back three pointers by Dani Ripkey at 12:34 and Haley Stercic at 11:59 gave the Lady Reds another 12-point lead, 55-43. A trey by Gaby Chapa at 10:26 made a 13-point contest once again, 58-45. Kristi Schmidt scored on a layup at 9:28 to give Carthage a 15-point lead, 60-45. Chapa’s field goal capped an 11-2 run.
With the game seemingly well in hand, Millikin came right back with an 18-4 run to pull to within a point. Cailee Corcoran scored on a jumper at 7:48, and the score stood at 62-48. Carthage went stone cold after that and didn’t score another field goal. After the Big Blue shaved the lead to five, 62-57, at 5:37, all scoring stopped for the next three and one-half minutes before Julia Roberts connected on a pair of free throws at 1:59 to cut the lead to three, 62-59. A free throw by Dani Ripkey at 1:36 finally got Carthage a point and a four-point lead, 63-59. Heather Pruemer’s jumper at 1:20 made it a two-point game, 63-61. Diana Jacklin made the second-of-two free throws with 58 seconds remaining, giving the Lady Reds a 64-61 edge. A layup by Cecily Aldridge at 50 seconds shaved the lead to one point, 64-63, capping the 18-4 Big Blue run. Jacklin drained two free throws at 24 seconds to put Carthage up by three, 66-63. Millikin’s Beth Wellbaum missed what would have been a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds to go. Cailee Corcoran rebounded for the Lady Reds, was fouled and made the front end of a one-and-one free throw to give Carthage a four-point lead, 67-63. That free throw turned out to be crucial, as the Big Blue’s Crystal Ziegler drained a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final, 67-66 margin.
Carthage, which entered the game leading NCAA Division III in field-goal percentage at .473, shot 45 percent (24-53), including 11-of-24 from three-point range, while Millikin shot just 32 percent (21-65), including seven-of-25 three-pointers. Carthage held its opponent under 32-percent shooting for the fourth time in five games. The Lady Reds converted eight-of-13 from the free-throw line, while the Big Blue connected on 17-of-20. Millikin enjoyed a narrow, 39-36 rebounding advantage. Three Carthage players scored in double figures. Dani Ripkey (Sr., Deerfield, Ill.) scored 13 points on four-of-eight three-pointers, along with one-of-two free throws. Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill., Chicago-Marist) also had 13 points six-of-nine shooting, along with six rebounds, and Stephanie Kuzmanic (So., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) added 12 points. Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill., Morton West), while limited to seven points, blocked seven shots and pulled down eight rebounds. Jacklin’s seven blocks were three short of tying a Carthage record of 10 set by Barb Heinig in 1981. Heather Pruemer led Millikin with game highs of 14 points and nine rebounds, while Julia Robert scored 12 points.
“Millikin did a great job making us think a little more than play,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero. “When we were up by 12 points in the second half, I thought we were going to break things open even more, but we let them hang around. It was an interesting clash of styles. We weren’t going to let them shoot the three, if we could help it, but they let all of their perimeter people take that shot. It was a cat and mouse game, and they wouldn’t let us get inside to either Diana Jacklin or Cailee Corcoran. We tried changing offenses to make that happen, but we wound up winning the game just by standing up to them, defensively. We also shot the three pretty well, and that helped. The big play might have been Dani Ripkey getting to the free-throw line at 1:36. I few win the rest of our games, we’ll win a conference championship. None of the last four games will be easy, but if we win all four, we win the league.”
Feb. 8 Wheaton (ill.) Game Notes: Neither side gained much of any kind of momentum in the first half, with four ties and three lead changes. Wheaton led by as much as four points, 19-15, at 8:20, with Carthage opening up a six-point lead at the break, 26-20. The Lady Reds shot just 38 percent in the first period (11-29), while the Thunder connected at just a 21 percent rate (7-34), including five-of-17 from three-point range. The Thunder hung around in the early part of the second half and closed to two points on two occasions, the second at 32-30 at 14:11. The Lady Reds went back up by six, 36-30, at 13:30, but a 10-2 run by the Thunder gave Wheaton a two-point lead, 40-38, at 7:42. Elisabeth Potts drained a pair of three-pointers in that 10-point run. The Thunder extended the run to 15-2 and went up by seven, 45-38, at 5:44. Still leading by seven, 49-42, with 3:04 to play, Wheaton went cold again for the next two minutes, allowing Carthage to cut the lead to two points, 49-47, at 1:14 and again at 51-49 on a Cailee Corcoran jumper with 51 seconds remaining. The Thunder turned the ball over on their next possession, and the Lady Reds took over at midcourt with 19 seconds to play. Corcoran missed a layup with five seconds to go and fouled Wheaton’s Maris Hovee on the rebound attempt. Hovee missed the front end of a one-and-one , but the Thunder rebounded the miss and hung on with a 51-49 victory.
Carthage, which entered the game leading NCAA Division III in field-goal percentage at .473, shot just 39 percent (22-57), including four-of-16 from three-point range, while Wheaton shot just 27 percent (18-66), including nine-of-32 three-pointers. Carthage held its opponent under 32-percent shooting for the fifth time in six games. The Lady Reds got to the free-throw line only three times and converted one-of-three, while the Thunder connected on six-of-nine. Wheaton had a 46-41 rebounding advantage, and the Lady Reds turned the ball over 14 times to just nine for the Thunder.
Wheaton’s Lindsey Brenneman scored a game-high 23 points on eight-of-16 field goals, including five-of-11 three-pointers. Elisabeth Potts added 11 points. Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill., Chicago-Marist) led Carthage with 19 points on nine-of-15 shooting, along with eight rebounds. Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill., Morton West) scored 10 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds. “Wheaton is a good defensive team,” admitted Carthage coach Tim Bernero. “They got into us a little bit physically and took us out of what we wanted to do. It just didn’t go our way. Now, we’re two games back of Illinois Wesleyan instead of one, and that makes it hard, for sure.” (courtesy of the Kenosha News)
The Record Book: Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) became the 19th Carthage player to score 1,000 or more points in the Jan. 28 North Central College game. Jacklin is in 18th place on the career list with 1,042 points thru Feb. 10…Dani Ripkey (Sr., Deerfield, Ill.) needs six three-point field goals to pass Angela Beyer (177, 2001-04) and become the Lady Reds’ career leader in that category.