Game Notes: (WBK) Carthage College @ North Central College (1/18/17)

Final Score
NCC 87, Carthage 82

Game Summary
This was another competitive game, but the Cardinals (10-6, 4-3) had early control in this one as they led 14-6 five and a half minutes in thanks to domination in the paint. But the Lady Reds (8-7, 3-4) stayed with it and took their first lead with two minutes to play at 18-17, and added a couple free throws before the end of the quarter. The second quarter saw a fair amount of back and forth, with the Lady Reds leading by as many as six early before the teams started swapping leads. Carthage started to get a little separation late in the frame though, and took a 45-37 lead into the break. The Cardinals opened the second half guns blazing, hitting a couple threes, but Carthage had an answer to push the lead to nine. North Central responded with a 7-2 mini run to pull back within two, and eventually tied the game and grabbed the lead at the free throw line. Carthage answered with a three, but the Cardinals hit back to back triples to grab a four point lead, then added a pair of free throws before a Carthage basket cut the lead back to 65-61 going into the final frame. The Lady Reds wasted no time tying the game in the fourth, then the teams started swapping leads again before Carthage tied the game again at 79. The Cardinals hit four straight free throws, the Lady Reds got a three to make it a one point game again, but that was it, as the Cardinals answered with a layup, and iced the game with a pair of free throws with five seconds left.

Key Stats

• Jamie Cuny (NCC): 4-10 FG (2-8 3PT), 6-8 FT; 16 pts, 8 reb (2 off), 2 ast, 6 blk, 2 stl. Jamie made her presence felt early, as she had three blocks in the first few minutes of the contest. It forced Carthage to start to back off a little bit, but she still made an impact at that end as well as on the glass. She was crucial during the second half on offense though, getting a couple layups to go as well as hitting a couple key threes, and she iced the game at the stripe.
• Jessica Dahle (NCC): 4-10 FG (4-9 3PT), 2-2 FT; 14 pts, 1 reb. Dahle had a career high last night, which was key with no one else really having their threes fall (see below). She's got a pretty bright future in The System given her shooting, and Michelle Roof raved about her after the game last night.
• Maddie Kaelber (CTG): 6-18 FG (4-14 3PT); 16 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl. The freshman would be a good fit in The System, considering she shot the most threes out of anybody. She looked pretty good, even though the shooting numbers don't really bear that out. She had plenty of open looks, and shot when she had them. Between her and Autumn Kalis, the Lady Reds shot their way back into the game after the early deficit and that kept them afloat.

North Central System Watch

• Carthage Turnovers: 24. This number is a little low for what you'd like against The System, but it worked well enough. The Lady Reds were able to break the press multiple times for easy layups (they had 22 fast break points), but as the game wore on they started to get a little sloppy. The Cardinals forced 14 steals, paced by four from Anita Sterling. while Siarra O'Neill, Jamie Cuny, and Paula Zerante each notched two. North Central also forced a ten second backcourt call in the third quarter.
• NCC 3PT: 9-49 (18.4%). Ye gods. It's been a struggle the last three times out for the Cardinals, as the box score shows a bunch of players with oh-fers. The most notable among the Cardinals last night were Caroline Heimerdinger (0-5), Michaela Reedy (0-4), Maya Walls (0-4), and Anita Sterling (0-4). The only redeeming part of last night was the third quarter, when the team heated up a little bit and shot 5-15 from beyond the arc, but they were ice cold in the fourth quarter, going 1-11. That they got away with it is something of a miracle.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 0. Paula Zerante should have gotten one, but was called for a block instead. I don't think she was in the circle, and she was set, so I think there was a bad call that cost her. Carthage did commit an illegal screen in the second half that was pretty obvious from where I was sitting. The Carthage fans were not pleased, but a number of people after the game commented that they enjoyed my call of it (other than threes, opposing offensive fouls are my favorite thing to announce, because they're the best defensive plays you can make. Also, the charge needs to be kept as an official stat.)

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ Augustana 83 (13-3, 6-1), Illinois Wesleyan 73 (10-6, 5-2)
• Elmhurst 90 (13-3, 5-2), @ Carroll 49 (1-14, 1-6)
• Wheaton 85 (12-3, 6-1), @ North Park 42 (8-9, 1-7)
• BYE: Millikin (7-9, 1-6)
• (MBK): NCC 86 (9-7, 3-4), @ Wheaton 82 (7-9, 3-4) (2OT)

Final Thoughts
I posited over on D3Boards that last night's game was a critical one, and it was: both teams were tied for fifth in the CCIW and needed a win to at least go into the second half of CCIW play with four wins to have a shot at the tournament. For the Cardinals to pick up a win like this, on a night where the threes weren't falling, especially against what I understand might be the team's biggest conference rival (something about a fight several years ago when I was an undergrad... I missed that game.) The win puts the Cardinals in fifth place, just a game out of a CCIW Tournament spot.

The Cardinals are on the road for a pair now, traveling to Elmhurst on Saturday for a key game that would put the Cardinals in fourth with a win, and then Carthage gets a shot at revenge next Wednesday up in Kenosha, where North Central hasn't won since 2006. That will be a good tuneup with Wheaton coming to town a week from Saturday to decide the fate of the universe.