The Carthage College women's basketball team (2-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), tied for 43rd place in the Nov. 25 "D3hoops.com" poll, fell to Loras College (3-2), 62-54, on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at the Athletic Wellness Center in Dubuque, Iowa

Carthage fell behind, 9-4, in the early going but pulled to within a point, 15-14, at 10:56.  Loras took off an 11-0 run that put the Duhawks up by 12 points, 26-14, at 6:34.  Loras led by eight at the break, 29-21.  The Duhawks pulled away to a 13-point lead in the second half, 41-28, at 15:04.  Still trailing by 13, 43-30, at 13:40, the Lady Reds mounted a furious comeback with a 24-12 run to pull to within a point, 55-54, at 1:22 on a layup by Erin Quinn.  Loras proceeded to score six points in 37 seconds to take a seven-point lead, 61-54, with 45 seconds to play.  The Duhawks capitalized on a pair of Carthage turnovers and a foul in that stretch and went on to win by eight points, 62-54.

Loras shot 43 percent (11-27), including four-of-14 three-pointers, while Carthage shot just 36 percent (22-62), including seven-of-29 from three-point range.  The Duhawks converted 10-of-15 free throws, while the Lady Reds only got the line four times and made three.  Loras won the rebounding battle, 44-31.  Victoria May led Loras with 20 points on eight-of-12 field goals and three-of-four free throws, while Carly Goede had 13 points.  Lori Obendorf added nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds.  Alexis Hahn (Jr., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) and Erin Quinn (Sr., Island Lake, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) scored 10 points each for Carthage, with Hahn pulling down eight boards.

"Loras did what they set out to do better than we did," admitted Carthage coach Tim Bernero, "and I'll take responsibility for that.  We didn't have control of anything in the first half.  They pressed us, but we practice for that.  We panicked against it and the ball away 11 times in the first half, but we were only down by eight.  They were tougher than us tonight, both physically and mentally.  They pushed us around inside.  We took 29 three-pointers, and if we're going to take that many, we better make more than seven.  We just didn't have enough of a post presence, and we didn't respond until the fire alarm was pulled.  The disappointment was not from losing the game, but from not playing the game as well as we can play it."

Carthage plays host to the University of Chicago (1-2) on Sunday, Nov. 30 in a 2 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.