(WHITEWATER, Wis.) – The No. 6/7 ranked Thomas More College women's basketball team fell, 72-55, to No. 24 Carthage College tonight (Friday, March 1, 2013) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

With the loss, the Saints end the season at 27-2.  With the win, the Lady Reds improve to 25-4 and advance to the second round, where they will play either Wisconsin-Whitewater or Wisconsin Lutheran University tomorrow night.

Carthage took an early 17-13 lead when Kasey Kleiner made a three-pointer with 9:53 to play in the opening half.  Thomas More answered with an 11-0 run to take a 24-17 lead with 5:50 to play in the first half when junior forward Moriah Corey (Louisville, Ky./Butler) made two free-throws.  The Lady Reds closed out the half on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 28-28 at halftime when Kristi Schmidt made a lay-up with 18-seconds to play.

Thomas More opened the second half on a 7-1 run to take a 35-29 lead with 18:18 to play in the game when senior guard Jill Brunsman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) converted an old fashion three-point play.  Carthage responded with a 24-11 run to take a 53-46 lead on an Erin Quinn lay-up with 7:55 to play in the game.  The Saints answered with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 57-55 on a free-throw by sophomore forward Jenny Burgoyne (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) with 4:38 to play in the game.  Carthage then closed out the game on a 15-0 run for the victory.

Burgoyne led the team in scoring with 17 points, while Corey led the team on the boards with seven rebounds.  Junior guard Devin Beasley (Burlington, Ky./Conner) led the team in assists with three and senior guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) led the team in steals with three.