KENOSHA, WIS.—The Carthage College women's basketball team opened a two-game home swing against Millikin University at Tarble Arena on Saturday evening. The Lady Reds were looking to find the win column for the first time since an 87-50 win over Coe College on November 22. The Big Blue entered their bout with Carthage on a two-game win streak that included victories over Eureka College and MacMurray College.
 
Bailey Gilbert put the tail of two opposite streaks to an end with 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds on Saturday to propel the Lady Reds to a 96-80 victory over the Big Blue. Carthage improves to 4-3, 1-0 CCIW while Millikin falls to 4-2, 0-1 CCIW.
 
Lady Reds 96, Millikin 80
 
The Lady Reds missed their first three-point attempts of the game before Mandy Hozzian, Autumn Kalis and Madie Kaelber collectively hit five in a row to propel them to a 23-5 advantage at the 1:40 mark of the first quarter. That lead stretched to 20 when Morgan Harris nailed a triple to make the score 33-13 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.  
 
Rachel Szydlowski helped Carthage maintain a 20-point cushion until halftime with eight points from that point until intermission to make the score 49-28.   Kaelber paced the Lady Reds with 14 points in the first half while the defense held Millikin to 10-of-28 (.357) from the field and 5-of-10 (.300) from the charity stripe.

"Defensively the first half was excellent, we contested them and held them in check," said head women's basketball coach Tim Bernero. 
 
The Big Blue found their stroke at the free throw line as they hit their first six attempts in the second half. This helped narrow the Carthage lead to 60-51 with 3:54 left in the third quarter. The Lady Reds didn't allow the Big Blue to get that close for the remainder of the game, and Gilbert's eight points to close the third frame was a big reason why as the margin widened to 75-60.

"We could've been better obviously in the third quarter because they scored a bunch and kept the game interesting for a while," said Bernero. "As long as we're rebounding we have a chance for a lot of success."
 
Gilbert notched all seven of her fourth-quarter points from the charity stripe to help Carthage maintain a double-digit lead en route to a 96-80 win.
 
Five Lady Reds tallied double-figure points against the Big Blue. Kaelber added 19 points, one block and one steal for Carthage. Szydlowski tallied a season-high 14 points and eight boards. Kalis notched 13 points while Harris contributed 10 points and career-high nine assists.
 
The Carthage defense held the Big Blue to 25-of-56 (.446) from the field and 4-of-12 (.333) from the three-point line. Millikin's Emily Schultz led all scorers with 22 points.
 
The Lady Reds will return to Tarble Arena on Wednesday, December 7 against new CCIW member Carroll University at 7:00 p.m.