KENOSHA, Wis. -- Carthage (26-3, 13-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) defeated Hope (28-1) 72-67 on Saturday in a second-round game of the NCAA Division III tournament at Tarble Arena.
Carthage now advances to a third-round game against DePauw (29-1) on Friday at a sectional site to be named by the NCAA on Sunday.
Carthage led most of the first half but not by much. The Lady Reds took a seven-point lead, 22-15, at 7:22. The Flying Dutch closed the gap to two points, 27-25, at 4:55, but Carthage pulled away to another seven-point lead the break, 34-27. The Lady Reds were firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half and used a 15-7 run to go up by 15 points, 47-32, at 15:27. Stephanie Kuzmanic scored seven of those 15 points on two jumpers, a layup and a free throw.
The Flying Dutch whittled the lead down to seven points, 52-45, at 11:09, and a 3-pointer by Brittany Berry at 8:19 made it a three-point game, 54-51. The Lady Reds went back up by 10 points, 66-56, at 3:52 with Michelle Wenzel scoring five of those 12 points on three free throws and a layup. Carthage took an 11-point lead, 69-58, at 2:22 and still led by 11, 71-60, at 1:43. Hope scored on four free throws and Kelly Morgan 3-pointer in the final minute and a half, but the Lady Reds hung on for a five-point win, 72-67.
Carthage shot 49 percent (27-for-55), including 7 of 9 from 3-point range, while Hope shot just 37 percent (22-for-60), including 11 of 24 3-pointers. The Lady Reds got to free-throw line 17 times and made 11, while the Flying Dutch connected on 12 of 14. Hope out-rebounded Carthage by a 39-33 margin, with the Flying Dutch pulling down 17 offensive rebounds.
Three Carthage starters scored in double figures. Michelle Wenzel led the way with a game-high 18 points on 6 of 13 field goals and 6 of 9 free throws, along with 14 rebounds. Stephanie Kuzmanic scored 16 points on 7 of 16 shootings, along with five rebounds and four assists. Kristi Schmidt added 12 points and five boards. Brittany Berry led Hope with 16 points. Maura McAfee had 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, and Anna Kaufmann added 13 points and seven assists.
