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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Carthage College Lady Reds dropped a heartbreaker in their finale at the D3Hoops.com Classic at the South Point Casino Arena, falling to St. Vincent College, 67-60, in overtime.
 
The loss marked the end of the non-conference season for Carthage, who close it out at 4-7 heading into College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play, while the win moves St. Vincent to 5-4 on the season.
 
For the second time in as many games, the Lady Reds were led by Morgan Harris who had her second consecutive double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.  Both were game highs.  Monica Masini scored 11 points and added five rebounds as the only other Lady Reds scorer in double digits.
 
The Lady Reds put together one onf their best opening quarters in recent memory as Carthage shot 53.3-percent from the field on 8-of-15 to recover from an early 7-2 hole and took a 20-15 lead after the first ten minutes. 
 
Carthage continued to shoot well in the second as Bailey Gilbert and Morgan Harris nailed a pair of threes to extend the Carthage lead to as many as nine at 29-20 with 4:37 remaining in the half.  The Bearcats answered with strong defense to hold Carthage scoreless the remainder of the half and a prayer at the buzzer capped a 5-0 run and cut the halftime lead to four at 29-25 in favor of the Lady Reds.
 
In the third, Carthage pushed the lead up to six at 42-36 on Gilbert's third three of the game.  It would be the largest lead the rest of the way for Carthage, as St. Vincent began to chip away and eventually tied it at 42-42 with a three-point buzzer beater to end a quarter.
 
After an 8-1 run by the Bearcats to open the fourth, the Lady Reds began to chip away with a pair of free throws by Rachel Szydlowski and Morgan Vukovich followed by a layup by Morgan Harris to cut the Bearcats' lead to one.  The Lady Reds would regain the lead two possessions later a three by Harris put Carthage up two with 3:18 remaining, 52-50.  After an and-one put St. Vincent up two, Carthage earned a trip to the freethrow line where Masini sunk a pair of free throws to force overtime.
  
In overtime, the Bearcats used transition baskets and converted on all seven free throws to outscore the Lady Reds 12-5 in overtime and seal the win.
 
The Lady Reds will return to Tarble Arena on Saturday, January 2nd when Carthage hosts Millikin University in the first home double header of the year. The Lady Reds will play the first game, tipping at 2:00 p.m. followed by the Red Men who are slated it tip immediately following at 4:00 p.m.