WHEATON, ILL.—A seven-game win streak, and revenge was at stake for the Carthage College women's basketball team's Wednesday-night bout at Wheaton College. The Lady Reds' 72-59 loss to the Thunder at Tarble Arena on January 4 sparked the six-game win streak they took into King Arena on Wednesday. A spark was never generated on behalf of Carthage as they suffered a 54-35 loss to Wheaton.
 
"We just didn't get off to a good start, and never got anything going offensively," said Lady Reds head coach Tim Bernero. "We made poor decisions and didn't shoot the ball well. If you told me we'd keep them in the 50's offensively I think we would've had a chance, but they just smothered us defensively and we didn't respond well."
 
The Thunder entered Wednesday with an NCAA Division III-leading 162 blocks and 8.5 blocks per game. They took it to another level against the Lady Reds with a season-high 19 blocks in the contest. Jill Berg had a hand in eight of those blocks, while Devin Kyler and Hannah Frazier each chipped in three.
 
Sammie Woodward paced the Lady Reds with eight points, followed by six apiece from Madie Kaelber and Bailey Gilbert. Morgan Harris led the Lady Reds with 10 rebounds, along with four points.
 
Carthage falls to 14-6, 7-4 CCIW while Wheaton ups their record to 16-4, 9-2 CCIW, which pushes their win streak to 10 games.
 
Wheaton 54, Lady Reds 35
 
The Thunder matched their eight blocks achieved against the Lady Reds earlier this season at the 3:58 mark of the second quarter, where they held a 26-9 lead. Rachel Szydlowski notched an offensive board on the play and registered a layup to narrow Wheaton's lead to 26-11 with 3:55 left. It wasn't enough as the Thunder responded with a 5-0 run en route to a 31-11 halftime lead.
 
After Wheaton opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run, Carthage showed promise with a 9-2 run of their own that was capped by Morgan Vukovich's jumper from the top of the key with 2:21 left to narrow their deficit to 40-22.
 
The Lady Reds couldn't continue that magic as Wheaton secured a 54-35 victory.
 
Carthage will return to Tarble Arena on Saturday, February 3 against Millikin University at 5:00 p.m. The Lady Reds alumni game will tip-off at 2:00 p.m., followed by the Red Men alumni contest at 3:00 p.m.