DECATUR, ILL.—A winter-weather plagued weekend made the Carthage College women's basketball team's game at Millikin University into a Sunday-evening affair. The itinerary change didn't faze the Lady Reds as they held the Big Blue to just 4-of-27 (.148) shooting and 17 points in the second half, which secured them a 74-43 victory. Carthage now carries a seven-game win streak, their longest since stringing 13 together in 2013-14.
 
"I think we were a little cautious early in the game trying to find the three-point shots because we shoot them well all the time," said Lady Reds head basketball coach Tim Bernero. "We needed to take the ball into the paint and we got started doing that with Bailey (Gilbert), Autumn (Kalis) did a great job all game with it, and Madie (Kaelber) got some in the third quarter. When you threaten the basket, they have to overplay and deny stuff, which is what broke things open."
 
Autumn Kalis paced all Lady Reds with 18 points and seven boards while Bailey Gilbert and Sammie Woodward each chipped in 13 points. Gilbert's missed three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer gave her a program-record 565 career three-pointers attempted.
 
Carthage finished the game 28-of-67 (.418) shooting and 10-of-24 (.417) from three-point land, and dominated on the glass with a 46-33 advantage.
 
The Lady Reds improve to 13-5, 7-2 CCIW while Millikin drops to 5-13, 1-7 CCIW.
 
Lady Reds 73, Millikin 43
 
The Big Blue took a 15-12 lead after the first quarter, but Carthage took control for good at 20-19 with 5:39 left in the second quarter off Maggie Berigan's layup. The Big Blue, who shot 9-of-22 (.409) in the first half, kept their deficit within 10 points at 33-26 after 20:00.
 
The Lady Reds defense kept Millikin in check throughout the entire second half, holding them to just 4-of-27 (.148) shooting and 1-of-12 (.083) from the three-point line. On the offensive end, Kalis was nearly flawless for the Lady Reds with 14 points on 3-of-3 shooting at the three-point line, along with four rebounds. It powered Carthage's 40-17 advantage in the second half, which secured them a 73-43 victory.
 
Thirteen Lady Reds saw action in the contest.
 
Carthage will travel to Elmhurst College on Wednesday, January 23 for a 7:00 p.m. game time.