The Carthage women's basketball team (12-9, 5-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost to CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College (13-8, 6-4 CCIW), 64-58, on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Ill. 

The loss left the Lady Reds in fourth place in the league, trailing first-place Wheaton College (Ill., 19-2, 9-1), second-place North Central College (19-2, 8-2) and Elmhurst.  Carthage, which has lost five of its last six games, is one game ahead of both Millikin University (13-8. 4-6) and North Park University (12-9, 4-6).

Carthage led by as much seven points in the first half, 18-11, at 5:32, but Elmhurst led by one point at the break, 23-22.  There were four ties and four lead changes in the second half before the Bluejays took the lead for good, 38-36, at 13:22 on a three-pointer by Hannah Lipman.  Elmhurst opened up an 11-point lead, 56-45, at 1:41 and went on to win by six, 64-58.

The Bluejays shot 38 percent (20-53), including eight-of-19 three-pointers, while the Lady Reds shot 44 percent (22-50), including eight-of-20 from three-point range.  Elmhurst got to free-throw line 26 times and made 16, while Carthage connected on six-of-nine.  The Bluejays had a narrow, 35-33 rebounding advantage.

Katie Swanson led Elmhurst with 16 points on four-of-six field goals, including two-of-four from three-point range, along with six-of-eight free throws.  Fiona McMahon scored 13 points on five-of-11 shooting, while Mikaela Eppard had nine points and nine rebounds. 

Four Carthage players scored in double figures, with Kasey Kleiner (Sr., South Milwaukee, Wis./Somers-Shoreland Lutheran) scored 12 points on four-of-seven shooting, including four-of-six three-pointers.  Taylor Boardman (Jr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) also had 12 points on four-of-seven shooting, along with four boards.  Alexis Hahn (Jr., Itasca, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and Erin Thomas (Jr., Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton) had 10 points and four boards.

Carthage travels to Rock Island, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 7 to take on conference-opponent Augustana College (Ill., 7-14, 1-9 CCIW) in a 5 p.m. game at the Roy J. Carver Center.