The Carthage College women's basketball team (6-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for 28th place in the Dec. 11 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and ranked 38th in the Dec. 4 "D3hoops.com" poll, defeated Aurora University (3-6), 57-45, on Saturday, Dec. 15 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

Aurora had a zero on scoreboard 13 minutes into the game, before Neely Marks hit a free throw at 7:14 to make it a 12-1 game.  The Lady Reds led by 18 points at halftime, 29-11.  Carthage scored the first seven points of the second half to go up by 25, 36-11, at 17:20.  The Spartans almost made a game of it in the closing minutes, as they pulled to within 11 points on two occasions, the last at 54-43 with 1:46 to play.  The Lady Reds went on to win by 12 points, 57-45.

Carthage shot 40 percent (19-47), including nine-of-18 three-pointers, while Aurora shot 46 percent (16-35).  The Spartans connected at only a 21 percent clip in the first half (3-14) but shot 62 percent in the second period (13-21).  Aurora out-rebounded Carthage by a 31-21 margin but turned the ball over 33 times to 20 for the Lady Reds.

Three Carthage players scored in double figures.  Kristi Schmidt (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) led the way with 13 points on five-of-six field goals, along with three-of-four free throws and five rebounds.  Haley Stercic (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Marist) had 12 points on four-of-eight shooting, including four-of-seven from three-point range, and Cailee Corcoran (Sr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) added 10 points and six rebounds.  Shay Jenkins led the Spartans with a game-high 14 points and six boards, while Bethany Dorrington added 12 points with a game-high eight rebounds. 

Carthage travels to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Dec. 18 to play Coe College in a 6 p.m. game at Moray Eby Fieldhouse.