LEBANON, TENN.—The Carthage College women's basketball team played Stevenson University in the first-of-two games in the Music City Classic on Thursday afternoon following a 19-day hiatus from competition. The Mustangs, who entered Thursday's bout off an 18-day hiatus, were also in pursuit of shaking off the holiday rust.
 
The Lady Reds, who faced Stevenson for the first time in program history, were looking to set the tone as they own a 5-0 record this season when they score first. The Mustangs prevented that from occurring as they registered a 10-2 lead. However, Carthage stormed back and tallied a 71-59 victory over the Mustangs.
 
The Lady Reds improve to 6-4, 2-1 CCIW while Stevenson falls to 6-4, 3-1 MAC.
 
Lady Reds 71, Stevenson 59
 
Sara Tarbert, who led NCAA Division III with nine double-doubles before the game, tallied eight of Stevenson's first 10 points to give them a 10-2 lead with 4:00 remaining in the first quarter.  Carthage narrowed that deficit to three points on three separate occasions to close the opening frame. Among those was Madie Kaelber's jumper at the first quarter buzzer to close the Mustang's lead at 14-11.
 
The Lady Reds tied the Mustangs three times in the second quarter before they generated their first lead of the game. That occurred at the 1:27 mark of the second frame when Autumn Kalis registered a three-pointer to make the score 21-18 before holding onto a 24-22 lead at halftime.
 
Tarbert nearly tallied a double-double in the first half alone for Stevenson with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Carthage defense held the Mustangs to 0-of-10 from beyond on the arch in the first half.
 
The Mustangs tied the game at 24-24 at the 9:17 mark of the third quarter, but the Lady Reds didn't look back from that point forward. Carthage capitalized on the Mustang's flaws, and Bailey Gilbert was a reason why as she nailed a pair of three-pointers to help push the Lady Red's lead to 44-35 after the third quarter.
 
Hannah Crist mustered the first three-pointer of the game for Stevenson with 5:01 left in the fourth quarter to spoil Carthage's double-digit lead at 57-49. The Lady Reds regained that double-digit lead and held onto a 71-59 victory.
 
"I wasn't sure we'd be able to stand up to them physically for 40 minutes, but we did," said Carthage head women's basketball coach Tim Bernero. "I just told the kids to check things off, check boxes off as we go and we'll be fine."
 
Gilbert led Carthage in scoring with 14 points. Morgan Harris added 13 points and eight assists while Autumn Kalis went 3-of-6 from the three-point line en route to 13 points. The Carthage defense held Stevenson to 2-of-18 from beyond the arch. Tarbert notched her NCAA Division III-leading 10^th double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The Lady Reds will return to action in their second game of the Music City Classic against Allegheny College tomorrow, Friday, December 30 on the campus of Cumberland College. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m.