LAS VEGAS, NEV.—Eight lead changes occurred in the Carthage College women's basketball team's neutral-site bout against Ohio Northern in the front-end of the 2018 D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday. Seven of those lead changes took place within the opening 20:00 before the Polar Bears's 13-0 run in the fourth quarter iced them a 65-57 victory over the Lady Reds at the South Point Casino Hotel.
 
"They (Ohio Northern) persevered and wore us down physically in the fourth quarter, while mentally we just stopped doing what we needed to do," said Lady Reds head basketball coach Tim Bernero following the game. "We didn't have a lot of people attacking, (Maggie) Berigan was attacking all day as she was great. She played both ends very well while having five of our seven free throw attempts the entire game."
 
Berigan registered a career-high 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, and garnered all four of Carthage's blocks in the contest. She engineered a Lady Reds (.390, 23-59) offense that out-shot Ohio Northern (.323, 20-62), and a defense that held Polar Bears' leading scorer Jenna Dirksen (14.5 PPG) to just eight points that all occurred from the charity stripe.
 
Rachel Szydlowski's 10 points rounded out the double-figures scorers for a Lady Reds team that drops to 6-5, 1-2 CCIW. The Polar Bears up their record to 7-4, 1-4 OAC.
 
Ohio Northern 65, Lady Reds 57
 
Carthage took the seventh and final lead change of the first half when Sammie Woodward sparked a 10-2 run with a three-pointer at the 6:04 mark of the second quarter, which tied the game 25-25 before going into halftime with a 32-27 advantage.
 
The Lady Reds held onto that lead throughout the third quarter and most of the final frame before Ohio Northern took over. Autumn Kalis's three-pointer at the 5:02 mark of the fourth quarter that gave Carthage a 56-52 lead was enough ignition for the Polar Bear's 13-0 run that pushed their lead to 65-56 with 1:29 left in the game. Berigan put the finishing touches on her career game with a made free throw with 0:12 remaining in the fourth to make the score final at 65-57.
 
The Lady Reds will face #18 Gettysburg College in the back-end of the 2018 D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 29 at 2:00 p.m. (PT).