GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Maris Hovee scored nine points, with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Kenosha, Wis. – The Wheaton women's basketball team lost a hard-fought 61-52 decision to Carthage College at the 2013 CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night. Carthage improves to 23-4 on the year and earns the CCIW's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.
Wheaton is now 22-5 on the year. The Thunder will have to await word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced at
www.ncaa.com on Monday at 1:30 PM (CST).
Carthage's largest lead of the first half was a 25-18 advantage with five minutes left in the opening half. Wheaton closed out the half 7-2 run to hold a 27-25 lead at halftime.
The first 15 minutes of the second half were back-and-forth with the two squads exchanging the lead on multiple occasions. Carthage led the Thunder 44-43 with 6:25 remaining in regulation, but the Lady Reds put together a crucial 13-5 run to open the game up with a 57-48 lead for the hosts with 1:21 remaining in regulation. The run allowed Carthage to secure the victory.
Wheaton senior
Brooke Olson (PICTURED LEFT) scored 10 points to lead the Thunder in scoring. Junior
Maris Hovee scored nine points, with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Hannah Considine scored nine points and
Ellie Zeller added nine points with five rebounds and three assists. Senior
Jenn Lee (PICTURED RIGHT) contributed seven points, with four assists.
Wheaton shot 31.7% (20-63) from the field, with 15% (3-20) from three-point range and 45% (9-20) at the free throw line. Carthage recorded a 34.8% (16-46) field goal percentage, with 38.5% (5-13) from behind the three-point arc and 88.9% (24-47) at the free throw line.
Haley Stercic paced Carthage with a game-high 18 points. Kristi Schmidt scored 14 points, with nine rebounds and Cailee Corcoran tallied 11 points, with seven rebounds.
