The Carthage College women's basketball team (7-3, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 26th in the Dec. 18 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll and tied for 37th place in the Dec. 18 "D3hoops.com" poll, opened play at the Trinity University (Texas) Classic on Friday afternoon, Dec. 28 with a 62-54 loss to Howard Payne University (8-2) at the Earl C. Sams Gymnasium in San Antonio, Texas.   The Yellow Jackets were ranked 37th by "D3hoops.com" in early-December.  The Lady Reds take on the host-Tigers on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 6 p.m.

Carthage opened up a 15-point lead, 25-10, at 9:07, with Kristi Schmidt scoring 11 of the first 25 points.  The Yellow Jackets then proceeded to sting the Lady Reds with a 24-7 run that put Howard Payne up by two points at halftime, 34-32.  The Yellow Jackets scored the first six points of the second period to go up by eight, 40-32, at 16:31, completing a 30-7 run over 12 minutes and 37 seconds. 

Howard Payne went up by as much as nine points, 48-39, at 10:51.  Carthage came back with a 13-4 run to re-gain the lead by three, 52-49, at 5:55.  Back-to-back three-pointers by Kayla Scott at 5:29 and 4:06 put the Yellow Jackets up to stay, 55-52, and Howard Payne went on to win by eight points, 62-54.

It was not a good shooting day for either team.  The Yellow Jackets shot 31 percent (18-59). including just six-of-24 three-pointers, while the Lady Reds shot 32 percent (18-56), including two-of-14 from three-point range.  Howard Payne converted 20-of-28 free throws, while Carthage connected on 16-of-21.  The Lady Reds out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets, 52-36, but turned the ball over 25 times to just 12 for Howard Payne.  The Yellow Jackets scored 25 points off Carthage turnovers.

Tresta Donahoo led Howard Payne with 16 points.  Donahoo made only three-of-15 field goals but connected on nine-of-10 from the free-throw line and pulled down six rebounds and dished out six assists.  Dana Marrs and Danyel Bradley added 13 points and four steals each.  Kristi Schmidt (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) led Carthage with 16 points on six-of-eight field goals, along with nine rebounds.  Michelle Wenzel (Jr., Darien, Wis./Darien-Delevan) came off the bench to score 13 points with six boards, and Stephanie Kuzmanic (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) added 12 points with a career-high 11 rebounds and four assists.