DECATUR, ILL.—The Carthage College women's basketball team made the 239-mile trek down Interstate-55 to face Millikin University on Saturday evening. The Lady Reds led on five occasions in the contest, with the latest occurrence at the 1:22 mark of the fourth quarter when Autumn Kalis's jumper made the score 64-63.
 
A Carthage foul with 0:02 on the clock put Lauren Moses on the charity stripe with the score 66-66, where she nailed one-of-two attempts to give Millikin a 67-66 victory.
 
Despite the loss, Carthage held an advantage in rebounds (41-34) and field goal percentage (.441-.391).
 
Rachel Szydlowski notched 16 points and 10 boards for her third double double of the season. Madie Kaelber added 16 points while Kalis notched 10 to round out the Carthage players in double-figure scoring. Morgan Harris reached double-figure rebounds for the eighth time this season with 12.
 
The Lady Reds fall to 13-11, 7-8 CCIW while the Big Blue improve to 10-14, 4-11 CCIW. The loss eliminates Carthage from CCIW playoff contention.
 
"We kind of thought it was going to be a long shot, but we didn't take care of our business today," said head women's basketball coach Tim Bernero. "We gotta get ready to play Tuesday and see where we go from there."
 
Lady Reds 67, Millikin 66
 
Szydlowski scored Carthage's first six points to help keep them within two points of the Big Blue at 8-6 with 5:20 left in the first quarter. Millikin stretched their cushion to 15-8 at the 3:23 mark of the opening frame before Carthage responded with a 10-3 run. Kalis capped that run with a three-pointer to tie the game 18-18 after the first quarter.
 
Kaelber and Szydlowski each tallied five points within the opening-four minutes of the second quarter to propel the Lady Reds to a 26-22 lead with 6:03 left in the second frame. However, the Big Blue returned the favor and eventually took a six-point 38-32 advantage at halftime.
 
Millikin held onto that advantage until 0:29 left in the third quarter, when a Szydlowski layup tied the game 50-50. Both teams traded leads five times in the fourth quarter. Kalis's jumper with 1:22 left in the game gave Carthage a 64-63 lead. Four Big Blue points, which included Moses's free throw with 0:02 left, gave them a 67-66 win.
 
The Lady Reds close the 2016-17 season at Carroll University (Wis.) on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m.
 
"We got to go play as well as we can on Tuesday and build this young group into something more as we go past the end of the season," said Bernero.