NAPERVILLE, ILL.—The Carthage College women's basketball team was in pursuit of a return to the win column at North Central College (Ill.) on Wednesday night. The Cardinals and Lady Reds were tied for fifth place in the CCIW with 3-3 records prior to Wednesday's meeting. Carthage, who dropped their previous two games, was also looking for their first true-road victory of the 2016-17 season.
 
The Lady Reds almost stood the test of North Central's unorthodox style of play, but came up short in an 87-82 decision.
 
Monica Masini notched a career-high 20 points along with 12 rebounds for a double double. Rachel Szydlowski added another double double for Carthage with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Carthage falls to 8-7, 3-4 CCIW while the Cardinals improve to 10-6, 4-3 CCIW.

North Central 87, Lady Reds 82
 
Szydlowski, who notched 13 points in the Lady Red's 77-50 loss at Illinois Wesleyan on January 14, nearly matched that total with 12 alone in the first half against North Central.  Carthage tallied their first lead of the game at the 2:02 mark of the first quarter when Monica Masini nailed both her free throws to make the score 18-17.
 
Szydlowski followed that with a pair of free throws with 1:43 left in the opening frame to widen the Lady Red's lead to 20-17 heading into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter was a game of chess as six lead changes took place. However, it was the Lady Reds who took control of the lead for the rest of the frame and Sammie Woodward had a lot to do with it. Down 30-29, Woodward responded with back-to-back jumpers to give Carthage a 33-30 cushion at the 3:20 mark of the second quarter. Madie Kaelber put the finishing touches on a 12-7 Lady Red run to end the second quarter with a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 45-37.
 
Carthage held North Central to 3-of-23 from beyond the arch in the first half. The Cardinals improved that mark with a 6-of-26 figure in the second half. Five of those three-pointers came in the third quarter, which helped the Cardinals regain a 65-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Red's largest advantage of the final frame came at the 5:21 mark when Masini tallied her career-high 20^th point to make the score 77-74. However, North Central converted on six free throws with under 2:00 left to regain the lead and hold onto an 87-82 victory.
 
The Lady Reds will close their three-game road swing at Wheaton College (Ill.) on Saturday, January 21 at 5:00 p.m.