The Carthage College women's basketball team (6-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked fifth in the Dec. 7 "D3hoops.com" poll and fifth in the Dec. 7 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, suffered its first loss of the year on Wednesday, Dec. 8 , as the Lady Reds were upset by Calvin College (6-2), 69-59, at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.  Calvin was ranked 34th in the Dec. 7 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll.

Carthage jumped out to 7-0 lead in the opening minutes, but Calvin responded with a 7-0 run of its own to the game at 14:30.  The Lady Reds took a 12-7 lead at 13:27, and the game was tied at 15-15 at 9:03.  An 11-2 run by the Knights put Calvin up by nine points, 26-17, at 4:14.  Calvin led by nine at the break, 32-23.  The Knights scored five unanswered points to open the second half, making it a 14-point game, 37-23, early in the second half.  The Lady Reds cut the lead to nine, 37-28, at 1&;13, but a three-pointer by Kelsey Irwin made it an 18-point game, 52-34, at 11:33.  Carthage came back with a 13-3 run to shave the margin to eight points, 55-47, at 7:55 but three three-pointers by Heather DeKleine put Calvin back up by 15, 64-49, at 4:41.  The Lady Reds got it back to nine points, 64-55, at 2:34 but wound up on the short end of a 10-point loss, 69-59.

Calvin shot 48 percent (25-52), but the Knights connected on 13-of-26 from three-point range.  Carthage shot just 35 percent (20-58), and the Lady Reds were out-rebounded, 38-29.  Jill Thomas led Calvin with a game-high 17 points on five-of-eight shooting, including four-of-six three-pointers.  Carissa Verkaik added 14 points on seven-of-12 field goals, along with a game-high 14 rebounds, 11 on the defensive end.  Heather Gilmore (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa/Pleasant Hill-Southeast) was the lone Carthage player in double figures with 13 points on four-of-10 shooting, along with six boards.

"Anytime a team shoots as well as Calvin did tonight," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero, "you're walking uphill.  Our game plan was to take away their inside game, but Calvin got into a rhythm with their three-point shots, and we never really had control of the game.  Along with their rebounding edge, we got what we deserved in this game.  We didn't seem very into playing this game, energy-wise.  We just weren't as crisp as we have been of late, and we struggled offensively.  Every time we made a mistake, Calvin made us pay for it.  When they started to make the three-pointers, we got a little panicky.  Then it got worse, because we weren't double-teaming the post, and we lost track of the shooters.  We've won some close games this year, and maybe we thought we were entitled to win this one.  I told our team that we have to play to win every night and make the plays.  This is a beautiful facility.  We love Tarble Arena, but I'm glad we play teams like Calvin, so our kids can experience top-level programs, both home and away."  Carthage plays host to the University of Chicago (4-3) on Monday, Dec. 13 in a 7:30 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.