November 21, 2009
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Carthage Women’s Basketball Defeats Beloit, 57-46, on Nov. 21;
Lady Reds Travel to Aurora on Tuesday
This Week: The Carthage College women’s basketball team (2-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its 2009-10 season on Tuesday, Nov. 17 with a 75-51 win over Monmouth College (0-1) at Glennie Gymnasium in Monmouth, Ill. On Saturday, Nov. 21, the Lady Reds defeated Beloit College (0-1), 57-46, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Next Week: Carthage travels to Aurora, Ill., on Tuesday, Nov. 24 to play Aurora University in a 6 p.m. game at Thornton Gymnasium. On Saturday, Nov. 28, the Lady Reds journey to Chicago to take on the University of Chicago in a 3 p.m. contest at the Gerald Ratner Athletic Center.
2009 CCIW Tournament: Carthage 18-9, 9-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) lost to conference-champion, top-seeded and No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan University (27-0, 14-0 CCIW), 75-55, on Saturday, Feb. 28 in the tournament-championship game of the 2009 CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Illinois Wesleyan Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. The Titans had been the nation’s top-ranked team since Jan. 27. In the Friday, Feb. 27 tournament-semifinals, Carthage upended second-seeded Wheaton College (Ill., 16-10, 11-3 CCIW), 65-50, with Illinois Wesleyan defeating fourth-seeded North Central College (12-13, 7-7), 76-68.
Carthage at the CCIW Tournament: Carthage made its sixth appearance at the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2009. The Lady Reds missed qualifying only for the 2005 event. Prior to this year’s event, Carthage had yet to advance past the semifinals, losing to Wheaton College (Ill.) in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, and falling to Millikin University in 2008. The closest the Lady Reds had ever been to the tournament-championship game was a 72-71 overtime loss to Wheaton (Ill.) in the 2003 tournament.
2009 NCAA Division III Championship First/Second Round: CCIW-champion and No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan University won the CCIW’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship by winning the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan was selected as a host-site for first and second- round NCAA games on Friday-Saturday, March 6-7 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. The Titans will defeated Ohio Wesleyan University (17-12), 80-51, in a first-round game on Friday, March 6, with No. 9 Wisconsin-Eau Claire defeating No. 22 DePauw University (22-6), 62-50, in the other first-round contest. Illinois Wesleyan (29-0) defeated Wisconsin-Eau Claire (24-6), 80-63, in a March 7 second-round game.
2009 NCAA Division III Sectional Championship: Illinois Wesleyan University played host to a Friday-Saturday, March 13-14 sectional championship at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan (30-0) defeated No. 4 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (26-4), 77-64, in a Friday, March 13 sectional-semifinal game, with No. 6 Washington University (Mo., 24-4) defeating No. 26 the College of St. Benedict (26-4), 56-43, in the other semifinal contest. Washington (Mo., 25-4) edged Illinois Wesleyan (30-1), 58-53, in the March 14 sectional-championship game.
Broadcast Information: Selected Carthage women’s basketball games are broadcast on WRJN-AM Radio (1400) and/or available on the Internet at http://www.carthage.edu/athletics/stream/. Veteran Kenosha radio sports announcer John Weiser, “The Voice of the Red Men and the Lady Reds,” handles the women’s basketball play-by-play chores for the fifth-straight year… live stats” for all home games are available at http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/livestats/xlive.htm.
The Coach: Tim Bernero is in his seventh season as head coach in 2009-10 (91-66, 7 years). He is Carthage’s second all-time winningest women’s basketball coach, trailing only Diane Mizerka with 116 wins between 1968 and 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). Rachel Schlesinger serves as a part-time assistant coach, with Katie Jarger as a graduate assistant coach.
The Polls: National-runner-up Washington University (Mo., 26-5 record in 2009, 7 first-place votes was ranked first in the pre-season “D3hoops.com” poll, followed by Amherst College (29-4, 5 first-place votes) second, Hope College (28-2, 7 first-place votes) third, defending-national-champion George Fox University (32-0, 6 first-place votes) fourth, Scranton University (26-5) fifth, CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University (30-1) sixth, Bowdoin College (24-5) seventh, Wisconsin-Whitewater (23-5) eighth, Brandeis University (20-8) ninth, Muhlenberg College (26-4) 10th, Kean University (22-8) 11th, DePauw University (22-8) 12th, the University of Southern Maine (22-7) 13th, the University of Chicago (17-8) 14th and Moravian College (21-7) ranked 15th.
The Conference: The CCIW, in its 64th season as of 2009-10, 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.) has won five titles and Illinois Wesleyan University three, with Carthage College and North Park University winning one championship each. Carthage shared the 1996 title with Millikin. The CCIW coaches picked defending-champion Illinois Wesleyan (6 first-place votes) to repeat in 2009-10, followed by Carthage (2 first-place votes) second, Elmhurst College third, Wheaton (Ill.) fourth, Millikin fifth, North Central College sixth, Augustana (Ill.) seventh and North Park eighth.
Nov. 17 Monmouth Game Notes: Carthage went ahead to stay at 18:13 in the first half on a three-pointer by Dani Ripkey. The Lady Reds opened up a 25-point lead, 37-12, late in the first period and led by 19 points at the break, 37-18. The lead went to 28 points, 57-29, at 12:42 second period, as Katie Klemke connected on a pair of three pointers and two free throws. The Fighting Scots whittled the lead down to 13 points, 57-44, at 7:30, but Carthage pulled away down the stretch to win by 24 points, 75-51. The Lady Reds shot 54 percent (30-56), while Monmouth shot just 37 percent (20-54). The Fighting Scots turned the ball over 27 times to 20 for Carthage. All five Lady Reds starters scored in double figures. Dani Ripkey (So., Deerfield, Ill.) had 16 points and six rebounds, while Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast Polk) had 16 points and five assists. Rosie Dorn (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican) had 14 points and nine boards. Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Florida Gulf Coast University) had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Katie Klemke (Sr., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) chipped in 10 points. Lyndsey Barnard topped Monmouth with 13 points.
Nov. 21 Beloit Game Notes: Carthage never trailed against Beloit. The Lady Reds jumped out to a 14-0 lead at 14:13 and led by as much as 15 points in the first half, 30-15, at 4:22. Carthage led by 11 points at the break, 30-19. The lead went to 19 points in the second half, 42-33, at 11:25. The Buccaneers battled back with a 21-9 run to make it a seven-point game, 51-44, at 2:28, but Carthage went on to win by 11 points, 57-46. The Lady Reds shot just 39 percent (19-49), while Beloit shot just 36 percent (14-39). The two teams combined for 55 turnovers, 31 for the Buccaneers and 24 for Carthage. Carthage’s Diana Jacklin (So., Berwyn, Ill./Florida Gulf Coast University) led all scorers with 15 points on five-of-nine field goals and five-of-seven free throws, along with five rebounds. Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast Polk.) scored 13 points on two field goals and nine-of-11 from the free-throw line. Faith Jones led Beloit with 14 points.