The Carthage College women's basketball team (18-3, 10-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 29th in the Jan. 29 "D3hoops.com" poll and tied for 25th place in the Jan. 29 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, continued its run through the CCIW regular-season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 2 with a 67-46 win over Augustana College (Ill., 7-14, 2-8 CCIW) at the Roy J. Carver Center in Rock Island, Ill.
Carthage remains undefeated in the conference race at 10-0 and has a two-game lead over second-place Wheaton College (Ill.) with four games remaining. The win also extended the Lady Reds' current winning streak to 11 games, which ties a school record set by the 2009-10 team. In addition, the win was Carthage's ninth in a row on the road, which broke a record of eight set in the 1994-95 season. The Lady Reds last loss was to Howard Payne University, 64-52 on a neutral court, on Dec. 28 and their last road loss was a 49-46 decision at St. Norbert College on Nov. 17.
Augustana took an initial, 5-0 lead in the opening minutes before Carthage scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-5 lead at 12:21. Cailee Corcoran scored on four jumpers in that 17-0 run. The Lady Reds opened up a 16-point lead, 25-9, at 7:03. The Vikings pulled to within 10 points, 27-17, at 2:52 and trailed by 11 at the break, 31-20. Carthage upped its lead to 18 points, 38-20, early in the second period and extended that to 20 points, 48-28, at 13:32. The Lady Reds led by as much as 28 points in the second half, 65-37, at 4:44 and cruised to a 21-point decision, 67-46.
Carthage shot 50 percent (25-50), including six-of-10 three pointers, while Augustana shot just 32 percent (17-53), including three-of-16 from three-point range. The Vikings shot just 27 percent in the first half (7-26). Augustana had a 35-31 rebounding edge but turned the ball over 19 times to just 13 turnovers for Carthage.
Four Lady Reds scored in double figures. Cailee Corcoran (Sr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) led the way with a game-high 18 points on eight-of-13 field goals, along with two-of-four free throws, four rebounds and six steals. Haley Stercic (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Marist) scored 12 points on four-of-six shooting, including four-of-five three-pointers. Stephanie Kuzmanic (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) and Kristi Schmidt (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) added 10 points each, with Kuzmanic collecting six rebounds, six assists and four steals and Schmidt six rebounds. Amy Hicks and Jessica Baids topped the Vikings with 10 points each.
"Augustana played us very physical in the first half," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero, "and I thought we should have gone to the free-throw line a little more. We shot the ball well, but we got out-rebounded, which I don't like. Cailee Corcoran played a nice game, and we'll need her scoring down the stretch. Augustana tried to go inside on us, but we did a pretty good job on them, defensively. They also shoot the three-pointer well, and those shots can be momentum-builders. We choked those off pretty well. We had a consistent defensive effort, and that's what we're looking for. The offensive flow could be better, but we're 10-0, and we're happy."
Carthage travels to Elmhurst, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 6 to play CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College (9-12, 3-7 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at R.A. Faganel Hall.