KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College women's basketball team climbed back from down eight points in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 17-seconds left, however a running layup at the buzzer by the top scorer in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, Liz Rehberger, gave the North Park University Vikings a 59-57 win at Tarble Arena Wednesday night.
 
As a team the Lady Reds (7-12, 3-5 CCIW) 52.5-percent from the field on 21-of-40 shooting while holding the Vikings (14-5, 5-3 CCIW) to just 38.3-percent from the field, however NPU hit three more three-point field goals in the game to make up the lost ground.  For Carthage, Morgan Harris played the full 40-minutes and led the Lady Reds with 17 points.  Freshmen, Monica Masini and Bailey Gilbert were the only other two in double-figures with 13 and 10 respectively. 
 
"I thought we had a pretty good plan on how to play them and thought we executed it well for the most part with exception to some of the third quarter, where we made it really difficult for them to score," said head coach Tim Bernero.  "You look at the stats and see that we shot 52-percent.  They shot 38-percent.  We out-rebounded them by four.  We had a few more turnovers but not enough to question them.  But somehow they made the play at the end.  We played with great energy from behind down the stretch so hopefully we can build off that." 
 
Carthage opened shooting well from the field, as the Lady Reds went five-of-eight on field goals, yet still found themselves down one following the opening quarter, 14-13, as the Vikings would manage to hang around courtesy of a six-two edge in points off Carthage's five turnovers.  Bailey Gilbert paced the Lady Reds going two-of-two from the field and two-of-two from the free throw stripe for seven points.
 
The Lady Reds continued to find success from the field in the second quarter, going 7-of-12 to finish the half shooting 60-percent from the field in the half.  Carthage dominated on the boards in the first half with an 18-9 advantage to eliminate many second chance opportunities and the teams went into the locker room tied at 28 at the half.
 
North Park swung the momentum in their favor to open the third quarter, outscoring Carthage 20-13 in the quarter with 12 of North Park's points coming off the bench.  Harris held Carthage together with nine of her 17 in the third to keep the game within grasp at 48-41 heading to the fourth.
 
After exchanging baskets midway through the fourth quarter, the Lady Reds began to mount their comeback down eight.  Aided by Masini three-point plays at 4:22 and 2:14, the Lady Reds were able cut the deficit to a one possession game at 55-53.  North Park pushed the lead back to four with 1:21 left in the game before a Rachel Szydlowski layup and pair of clutch free throws my Erin Thomas tied the game with 17-seconds remaining.  However, on the final possession of the game, after solid defense looked to eliminate a chance for a clean look, Rehberger managed to drive from the left elbow to the rim and banked in a running layup as the final buzzer sounded to deliver the heartbreaking defeat to the Lady Reds.
 
On Masini's play Bernero noted, "Monica keeps getting better every time she play.  When she did have some trouble she was indecisive; and I think all of our post players have been guilty of that throughout the year.  But she was ready to receive the ball.  One was a great pass by Harris that she caught and finished.  So we are expecting her to keep doing that and to keep getting better.  She made some huge plays and made her free throws to get us back in the game."
 
Rehberger led all scored in the game with 22 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
 
"They hurt us that way with points in the paint last time against them," said Bernero talking about the final play of the game.  "Tonight I think they got a little bit more from their post players and had some timely offensive rebounds that hurt us.  The final play was a little bit of bad luck because we had them bottled-up well so they pitched it back to her and she was able to drive.  We had a couple chances to have people slide over and contest the shot but we didn't get there in time to make that an even tougher shot than it already was."

The Lady Reds return Tarble Arena Saturday, January 30th for the opening game of a men's and women's doubleheader.  The Lady Reds will tip first at 5:00 p.m., followed by the men at 7:00 p.m.