The Carthage College women's basketball team (0-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked 12th in the "D3hoops.com" pre-season poll, opened its 2013-14 season on Friday, Nov. 15 with a 64-56 loss to No. 16 Ohio Northern University (1-0) at the Manchester University "Main View Tip-Off Tournament" at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena in North Manchester, Ind. 

Manchester (1-0) outlasted Kalamazoo College (0-1), 58-52 in overtime, in Friday's second game, and the Lady Reds will take on Kalamazoo in the Saturday, Nov. 16 consolation game at 5, EST, with Ohio Northern taking on Manchester at 7 p.m., EST in the title game.

Ohio Northern led most of the first half, but Carthage took a 27-26 lead on a three-pointer by Haley Stercic at 2:35.  A three-point play Jordan Kimes at 1:34 put the Polar Bears up, 29-27, and Ohio Northern led by four points at the break, 33-29.  In the second half, a layup by Kimes at 12:26 put the Polar Bears up by seven points, 46-39.  Six unanswered points by Carthage cut the margin to a point, 46-45, at 9:22, but an 12-1 Ohio Northern run made it a 12-point game, 58-46, at 2:37.  The Lady Reds wound up losing by eight, 64-56.

Ohio Northern shot 47 percent (26-55), including five-of-18 three-pointers, while Carthage shot just 36 percent (21-58), including two-of-11 from three-point range.  The Lady Reds converted 12-of-14 free throws to seven-of-seven for the Polar Bears, and the rebounds were even at 34 each.  Ohio Northern's Jordan Kimes scored a game-high 19 points on eight-of-10 shooting, along with seven rebounds, while Cenzie Yoder had 14 points and five assists. 

For Carthage, Kristi Schmidt (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) led the way with 13 points on five-of-12 from the floor, along with seven rebounds.  Haley Stercic (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Marist) and Michelle Wenzel (Sr., Darien, Wis./Delavan-Darien) had 12 points each, with Wenzel collecting a game-high eight boards.  Alexis Hahn (So., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) came off the bench to add 10 points.