The Carthage College women's basketball team (14-6, 5-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) lost to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 14-5, 7-2 CCIW), 68-50, on Thursday, Feb. 3 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  The loss left the Lady Reds in fourth place in the league, trailing first-place Illinois Wesleyan University, Millikin University and Wheaton (Ill.).

Carthage led in the game's opening minutes, but Wheaton took over, 11-9, at 15:53 and led by as much as 10 points in the first half, 23-13, at 9:59.  The Thunder led by seven points at halftime, 36-29. Wheaton opened the second half with an 18-4 run to take control of the game with a 21-point lead, 54-33, at 12:21.  The Lady Reds got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, 56-40, at 10:47.  The Thunder led by as much as 24 points, 66-42, at 6:22 and went on to win by 18, 68-50.

Wheaton shot 42 percent (24-57), including 10-of-26 from three-point range, while Carthage shot just 35 percent (19-55), including five-of-19 three-pointers.  The Thunder had a narrow, 38-34 rebounding edge.  Brooke Olson led Wheaton with a game-high 21 points on seven-of-10 field goals, including five-of-seven from three-point range, while Laura Karsten had 17 points and nine rebounds.  Diana Jacklin (Jr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) and Kristi Schmidt (Fr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) each had 10 points for Carthage, with Jacklin collecting six rebounds. 

"It didn't make any sense," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  "I don't know what happened as far as how we executed and carried things out.  Maybe Wheaton is a tough match-up for us, but they attacked us, and we let them.  Everything looked disjointed all night."

Carthage travels to Rock Island, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 5 to take on conference-opponent Augustana College (Ill., 5-15, 1-8 CCIW) in a 5 p.m. contest at the Carver Physical Education Center.