CHICAGO – It was a tale of two halves for the Carthage College women's basketball team Sunday, as the Lady Reds overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to improve to 4-0 on the season, with a 64-57 win at the University of Chicago.
 
Morgan Harris and Bailey Gilbert were the top scorers in the game with 29 points and 18 points respectively.  For Harris, the game is her third straight with at least 20 points and her second double-double as she added 10 rebounds. 
 
Carthage trailed most of the first quarter as Chicago opened the game controlling the boards and turnover battle to give them an early advantage. Bailey Gilbert gave the Lady Reds a short-lived 12-11 lead midway through the quarter.  Chicago would answer with a 10-0 run to take a 21-12 edge, however Morgan Harris' running three-ball as time expired cut the deficit to six after the opening 10 minutes.
 
Carthage saw the Chicago lead grow too as many as 16 late in the second before cutting it to 13 at 37-24 going into the break.     The Lady Reds nine turnovers were converted for 13 points for the Maroons in the half and Chicago shot 50-percent as a team (16-of-32) from the floor to Carthage's 36.4-percent on 8-of-22 field goals.
 
The first half struggles did not deter the Lady Reds, and second half adjustments showed as Carthage shot 52.4-percent from the field in the second half and 42.9-percent on three-point field goals.  The strong second half shooting performance would pace the comeback for the Lady Reds comeback, outscoring the Maroons 40-20 in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Lady Reds dominated the third on both ends, outscoring the Maroons 20-5 in the quarter.  Carthage shot 8-for-13 in the third while holding Chicago to just 2-of-13.   Harris and Gilbert combined for 16 of the Lady Reds' 20 points in the quarter while the Lady Reds turned the ball over only three times in the third.
 
Carthage pushed the lead to as many as five in the fourth quarter before Chicago would to claw back, eventually tying it at 53-53.  After that Carthage took over at the free throw line, as Erin Thomas, Bailey Gilbert, Morgan Harris and Mandy Hozzian combined to knock down 9-of-10 to secure the come-from-behind win.
 
The Carthage defense, which allowed 37 points in the first half, limited the Chicago offense to 27.3-percent from the field in the second half thanks in large part to post presence of Rachel Szydlowski, Morgan Vukovich and Monica Masini, and just 1-of-12 on three's. 
 
Erin Thomas shot just 1-for-5 from the field for seven points but went five-of-six on free throws including four-of-four in the fourth down the stretch.  Freshman forward Monica Masini added a career-high five points to lead the Carthage frontcourt.
 
The Lady Reds return to Tarble Arena Wednesday, as Carthage plays host to Clarke University at 6:00 p.m.