The Carthage College women's basketball team (19-4, 11-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 25th in the Feb. 6 "D3hoops.com" poll and 26th in the Feb. 6 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, saw its school-record 12-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, Feb. 9 with 76-75 overtime loss to CCIW-opponent Illinois Wesleyan University (16-7, 9-3 CCIW) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

Carthage led for most of the first half.  The Lady Reds led by as much as eight points, 16-8, at 13:05.  Illinois Wesleyan tied the game, 32-32, at 1:23 and trailed by a point at halftime, 35-34.  Carthage led by eight points in the second half, 54-46, at 11:06, but the Titans tied things up 55-55, at 7:44.  Illinois Wesleyan was leading by four, 65-61, at 2:35 before layups by Michelle Wenzel at 1:52 and 00:50 tied the game, 65-65.  The Lady Reds missed two layups at the end of regulation, one by Erin Quinn and the other by Wenzel, either of which would have given Carthage the win.  In overtime, Carthage opened a four-point lead, 73-69, at 1:14.  A three-pointer by the Titans' Michelle Bilek cut the lead to one, 73-72, with 56 second remaining.  Two free throws by Colleen McMahon with 35 seconds to go put Illinois Wesleyan up by a point, 74-73.  Carthage took its last lead, 75-74, on a layup by Cailee Corcoran with 10 seconds to go.  Following a Titan timeout, Illinois Wesleyan inbounded at mid-court, and McMahon scored on a layup with four seconds to play to go up, 76-75.  The Lady Reds turned the ball over on their final possession.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 44 percent (29-66), including eight-of-25 from three-point range, while Carthage shot 44 percent (28-63), including five-of-16 three-pointers.  The Lady Reds out-rebounded the Titans, 47-34, but Carthage turned the ball over 23 times to 13 for Illinois Wesleyan.  Colleen McMahon led the Titans with a game-high 31 points on 12-of-21 field goals, including five-of-nine three-pointers.  Katy Seibring had 19 points and nine rebounds, while Melissa Gardner added 11 points and five assists.

Michelle Wenzel (Jr., Darien, Ill./Delavan-Darien) came off the Carthage bench to tie her career high with 22 points on eight-of-12 field goals, along with a game-high and career-high 15 rebounds.  Stephanie Kuzmanic (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Wheeling) scored 16 points with five rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, while Cailee Corcoran (Sr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) had 16 points and eight rebounds. 

 "It was a heck of game," said Carthage coach Tim Bernero.  "We're disappointed.  We didn't do as good a job playing fundamental defense as we did in the game down there.  Things didn't go the way we thought they would, but give Illinois Wesleyan credit.  They made the shots they needed to make, and they shot better than they did in the first game.  We needed one more shot, and we just didn't get the turn.  Now we have a week off before a huge game at Wheaton College for the conference championship.  We'd like to win this outright.  If Wheaton wins, they might have the tie-breaker to host the conference tournament, so there's a lot on the line."

Carthage travels to Wheaton, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 16 to play CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 19-3, 10-2 CCIW) in a 5 p.m. game at King Arena.  A win over the Thunder would clinch an outright league title for the Lady Reds, while a loss could set up a co-championship situation.  Carthage closes out its regular-season schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 19 with a home contest against North Park University, while Wheaton (Ill.) plays host to Elmhurst College. 

Should Carthage and Wheaton (Ill.) finish the season in a 12-2 tie, the Thunder would play host to the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on the basis of the league's third tie-breaker, which is the record of the two teams against third-place Illinois Wesleyan University.  Wheaton (Ill.) is 2-0 against Illinois Wesleyan, while Carthage is 1-1.