KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College women's basketball team (6-9, 2-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) took on the Vikings of Augustana College (6-9, 1-3 CCIW) at Tarble Arena on Saturday, January 16^th.
 
"We had some opportunities," said head coach Tim Bernero.   "We made a nice run in the third quarter offensively to get what we thought was control of the game and then made some bad choices on both ends in the fourth quarter and Augustana took advantage of us… They obliged with 12-seconds left in the game, missing both free throws, but we couldn't get the job done."

Augustana struck first in the game and took an early 4-0 lead over the Lady Reds. Morgan Vukovich would score first for the Lady Reds with 8:16 remaining in the quarter. Carthage would take a 6-5 lead with 5:14 remaining and would go on to lead 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.
 
A shot from behind the arc by Mandy Hozzain would extend Carthage's lead to 18-9 to start the second quarter. However, the excitement would be short lived as the Vikings would make a 10-point run to take a 19-18 lead with 5:21 remaining in the half. The Lady Reds tied the game at 23-23 on a good free throw by Rachel Szydlowskiand the game would be tied at 25-25 heading into halftime.
 
The Vikings struck first in the third quarter thanks to a layup by Marissa Pezzopane on a ball from Olivia Mayer. Augustana would go on to score five more points to take the lead 32-25 with 6:27 remaining the the quarter. The Lady Reds took control and went on a 15-point run on shots by Bailey Gilbert, Morgan Vukovich, Monica Masiniand Mandi Hozzian to take a 40-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Despite the strong defensive efforts by the Lady Reds, the Vikings were able to mount a strong comeback in the fourth quarter and eventually tied the score at 49-49 with 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. A jump ball with 1:09 remaining would give the Vikings possession and the opportunity to take the lead 51-49 with a layup from Pezzopane. Augustana would score two more points on free throws from Corrie Reiley to extend their lead to 53-49 with :25.4 seconds left. 
 
Pezzopane would commit a foul with :16 seconds remaining to give Bailey Gilbert the chance to make two free throws to make the score 53-51 in favor of the Vikings.  Two seconds later, the Lady Reds would commit a foul and would give the Vikings a chance at two more free throws, both of which would go off the rim. However, Augustana would get the offensive rebound and pass the ball around arc for approximately 10 seconds until Pezzopane could score a layup with one-second remaining to extend their lead 55-51. Another shooting foul by the Lady Reds would allow Pezzopane an and-one free throw. The made free throw would secure the Vikings 56-51 win over the Lady Reds.
 
Morgan Vukovich led the Lady Reds in scoring with 17 points in 35-minutes of playing time. Morgan Harris made 11 rebounds in the game, accompanied by Bailey Gilbert with eight and Vukovich with seven respectively. As a team, the Lady Reds connected on 21-of-62 shots for a shooting percentage of 33.9-percent.

"Morgan did a great job.  I thought the stuff she had been struggling with and that we had been working with her on showed tonight, said Bernero.   "She was aggressive and more decisive with the ball right away.  Sometime she gets the ball down there and it takes to long for her to make the move and she gets double teamed or allows the defense to recover and turns the ball over.  Today she was using both hands, moved quickly and attacked them.  And we needed those points when we were having trouble scoring."
 
The Lady Reds will continue play at home on Wednesday, January 20^th as they take on the Cardinals of North Central College at 7 p.m. at Tarble Arena.

Looking ahead to Wednesday's matchup, Bernero noted, "North Central brings a style thing that will give you a little bit of a head ache.  But it is interesting so far because if you do the right thing, people have been able to hold their scoring below their average.  It's not easy to do because they play so fast and they don't play with regard.  It's one of those things that from a rebounding standpoint you have to pursue the ball.  There's not a lot of time box people out.  You have to just chase the ball down and I am a little concerned about that.  But if you can beat their press they are giving you layups and we have to make those."