Carthage Women’s Basketball 2008 Season Review/2009 Season Outlook

2008 Season Review

Another year.  Another step closer.  For a month or so, it looked like 2008 was the year for Carthage women’s basketball to win another College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title.  After going 8-3 in a tough, non-conference schedule, the Lady Reds broke out of the gate with seven-straight CCIW wins and were in sole possession of first place on Feb. 1.

The seven-consecutive league wins came at the back end of three-straight non-conference victories, giving Carthage a school-record 10-game winning streak.   The previous mark was an eight-game winning streak set by coach Dianne Mizerka’s 1973 team.  The streak was snapped with an 80-63 loss at Illinois Wesleyan University on Feb. 2   “Give Illinois Wesleyan credit,” said coach Tim Bernero after that game.  “They executed what they set out to do better than we did.  We stabilized things in the first half and got a lead, but they just killed us on the offensive boards.  When a team can score like Illinois Wesleyan, you just can’t give them extra chances.”  The loss to the Titans left the two teams tied for first place with 7-1 marks.

After a 71-43 win over North Park University on Feb. 5, Carthage suffered a costly loss at North Central College on Feb. 9.  Not only did the Lady Reds lose the game, 65-55, to fall out of first place, but starters Carlie Janowiak and Katie Jarger were both injured.  Janowiak tore a ligament in her ankle, missed two of the next five games and didn’t score more than four points in the other three games.  Jarger suffered a concussion, which limited her activity for the last three weeks of the season.

Carthage wound up losing three of its last five games to slip into third place in the final standings.  The Lady Reds were matched up with second-place Millikin University in the semifinals of the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament.  While Carthage had won both of its regular-season games with Millikin, the Lady Reds wound up on the short end of a 49-48 game the third time around.

After falling behind by nine points in the second half, Carthage took a 42-41 lead over the Big Blue at 6:18.  The Lady Reds went up by four, 45-41, at 5:38.  The Big Blue tied the game, 45-45, at 3:01, but Katie Jarger connected on the three-point play at 2:38 to make it 48-45.  The Big Blue knotted the game, 48-48, on a long three-pointer by Megan Mateer at 1:31.  With the score still tied, Millikin took a timeout with 12.7 seconds remaining.  Lindsay Ippel drove to the basketball and was fouled with 4.7 seconds.  Ippel missed the first free throw by made the second for 49-48 lead.  Carthage’s Shana Lieberman had an open three-pointer at the buzzer but missed what would have been the game-winning basket.

“I can’t complain about how the game was played,” said coach Bernero.  “Our kids played their hearts out, but Millikin just made one or two more plays than we did.  We had chances, we had the lead in the second half, and we had a couple of possessions late in the game with good shots.  The last possession goes to the All-American, Lindsay Ippel, and she gets it done.  We got ourselves into a hole, but we dug ourselves out.  We had every right to win the game but didn’t.  We got the four-point lead, but the game kind of stagnated from that point.  I probably should have called a timeout to set up the last shot, but Shana’s three-pointer almost went in.”  Carthage made its fifth appearance at the CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2008.  The Lady Reds have qualified for all but one of the events since the tournament began in 2003. 

Three members of the Carthage team were named All-CCIW.  Guard/forward Carlie Janowiak (Sr., Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) was named first-team All-CCIW, guard Katie Jarger (Jr., Chicago, Ill./River Forest-Trinity) second-team, and guard Erika Buchholz (Sr., Lisle, Ill.) earned third-team all-conference honors.  Janowiak, a third-team all-conference selection last year, was 28th in CCIW scoring (7.5 points per game), first in three-point field-goal percentage (.443), first in assist/turnover ratio (2.22 per game. 8^th in NCAA Division III), third in assists (4.63 per game), sixth in blocked shots (0.96 per game), seventh in steals (1.88 per game) and 14th in rebounding (4.8 per game).  Jarger, a second-team All-CCIW selection for the second-straight year, was 12th in scoring (10.8 points per game), seventh in field-goal percentage (.495), eighth in blocked shots (0.68 per game) and 10th in rebounding (5.3 per game).  Buchholz was 13th in scoring (10.1 points per game), seventh in free-throw percentage (.771), 10th  in assists (2.88 per game), 13th in three-point field-goal percentage (.300) and 15th in field-goal percentage (.406).

Carthage’s 18 wins marked the program’s best win-loss record since the 1996 CCIW co-championship team also went 18-8.  The Lady Reds’ Feb. 23 season-finale versus Illinois Wesleyan was the final women’s basketball game at the Carthage Physical Education Center.  The facility will be replaced by the all-new Tarble Arena in January 2009.  The first women’s contest at the Carthage PEC was against Trinity Christian College on Feb. 10, 1970.

2009 Season Outlook

Third-team All-CCIW guard Erika Buchholz and center Forrest Smith (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va./Gurnee, Ill.-Warren Township, 2.4 points per game) are lost to graduation, but coach Bernero expects to welcome back two fifth-year seniors in 2008-09.  First-team All-CCIW player Carlie Janowiak has a fourth year of eligibility remaining after not playing basketball at the University of Delaware her freshman year, and center Lisa Gartelos (Sr., Lisle, Ill., 8.6 points per game, 4.4 rebounds) also has a fourth year of eligibility after sitting out most of the 2006 season with a knee injury.

Other returnees include guard Shana Lieberman (Jr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey, 9.1 points, 3.2 assists, .310 three-point field-goal percentage), forward Rosie Dorn (So., Chicago, Ill./Wilmette-Regina Dominican/Eastern Illinois University, 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds), center Katherine Burshiem (So., Naperville, Ill./North, 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds), guard Heather Gilmore (So., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill/University of Iowa, 4.5 points), guard Katie Klemke (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South, 2.4 points), guard Grace Delaney (Fr., Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South and guard Taylor Tondelli (Fr., Downers Grove, Ill./South).

“The 2008 team accomplished a lot,” says Bernero, “and 18-8 is a big accomplishment.  We could have done better, but we had a great season.  We’ll miss seniors Erika Buchholz and Forrest Smith.  Erika was a hard-nosed player who gave us a great effort over four years, and Forrest was a good player.  We have a nucleus of 10 players coming back who are all pretty good, and its’ my job to find the rest of pieces to make them better.  I don’t see why next year’s team shouldn’t be right in this mix again.  Hopefully, next year’s team can kick the door in at the CCIW tournament.”