ROCK ISLAND, ILL.—A six-game win streak, and a season-sweep was at stake for the Carthage College women's basketball team in their road bout at Augustana College (Ill.) on Saturday evening. Both came true for the Lady Reds as they never surrendered the lead in an 80-74 victory over the Vikings.
 
A pair of Lady Reds tallied a double-double in the contest, led by Rachel Szydlowski's 20 points and season-high 14 boards.  This edged her previous season-high of 13 rebounds, also accomplished against Augustana on December 9, which resulted in a 74-67 victory for the Lady Reds. Szydlowski also registered a 10-of-11 mark from the charity stripe on Saturday. Morgan Harris contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 17th career double-double. However, it was Madie Kaelber's 14 fourth-quarter points that iced the game for Carthage.
 
"I remember looking at the scoresheet at halftime and she (Kaelber) was 2-for-10," said Lady Reds head coach Tim Bernero. "We just had to get her in space where she could do some stuff, and that she did in the second half. She wasn't afraid that she didn't shoot the ball well in the first half as she attacked, and hit some huge shots for us in the latter part of the game. Everybody played a great game.  Rachel (Szydlowski) had a huge game in the first half, made her free throws. Sammie (Woodward) did a really good job making Izzy Anderson's night hard as she held her to nine points."
 
Kaelber finished the contest with 19 points while Bailey Gilbert's 16 points rounded out the Lady Reds who tallied double-figure scoring.
 
The Lady Reds' six-game win streak gives them a 14-5, 7-3 CCIW record while Augustana falls to 12-7, 5-5 CCIW.
 
Lady Reds 80, Augustana 74
 
Szydlowski contributed five points and four boards, while Gilbert added five points in the opening 10:00 to help Carthage maintain a 14-12 advantage. The dynamic duo also lifted Carthage in the second quarter with seven points apiece en route to a 39-29 halftime lead.
 
The Lady Reds maintained the 10-point cushion throughout the majority of the third frame. Szydlowski helped Carthage reach a 12-point cushion, their largest lead at that point, with a pair of made free throws at the 6:06 mark of the third quarter to make the score 48-36. She later added another pair of free throw shots with 0:29 left in the third to give Carthage a 53-43 edge before Augustana's Sadie Roberts hit a three-pointer with 0:08 on the clock to close their deficit to 53-46.
 
Among Kaelber's 14 fourth-quarter points was a three-pointer with 5:29 left that gave Carthage their largest lead of the game at 65-52 before Augustana went three minutes without a missed shot. This resulted in a 10-0 run that narrowed their deficit to 65-62 at the 3:16 mark of the frame. However, Kaelber iced the game with 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line throughout the final 3:00 of play to secure an 80-74 victory for Carthage.
 
The Lady Reds, who remain tied for third place with Elmhurst, will take on second place Wheaton College (Ill.) on Wednesday, January 31 in Wheaton, Ill. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
"If we go back to the Wheaton game on that Thursday night at home, we'll all agree we didn't put our best foot forward," said Bernero. "For whatever reason, we were sluggish. After that night, we felt bad about ourselves, but came out of it and won six in a row."