DECATUR, Ill. - The Carthage women's basketball team lost to the conference's top team, Millikin, today in Illinois. The Big Blue overcame a rough shooting performance from three to win decisively by a score of 56-41. 



 

• Final score: Millikin 56, Carthage 41. 
• Location: Griswold Center - Decatur, Ill. 
• Records: Carthage 3-5 (1-1 CCIW), Millikin 7-3 (3-0 CCIW). 

 
 

• The Big Blue started the game on a 6-0 run and eventually 8-2 before a Lauren Knight and-1 cut the deficit to three. 
• Millikin ended the first quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 19-10 advantage heading into quarter number two. 
• The home team's lead stayed put at nine midway through the second before a 10-2 stretch by Millikin created some sizable separation between the two teams heading into the break. 
• Layups by Ester, Knight, and Morrissey trimmed the Big Blue lead to 15, but the leader in the conference standings answered with a pair of jumpers to quell any momentum for the Firebirds. Millikin took a commanding 20-point lead going into the final ten minutes of game action. 
• Carthage opened the final quarter on a 6-0 run and eventually pulled to within 11 with under five minutes to go courtesy of some solid offensive basketball by Jessie Pakaski. Once again, however, Millikin had an answer offensively. Carthage failed to score in the final two and a half minutes. 
• The Firebirds got to the line more often than their opponent, hitting 70% of their freebies, but failed to convert from the field in the loss. 25 turnovers doomed Carthage, as Millikin netted 29 points off of them. 

 

• Sophomore forward Marianna Morrissey scored an efficient ten points on seven shots while also collecting four rebounds and a steal. 
• First-year forward Jessie Pakaski scored the first nine points of her career today in Decatur, going 3-7 from the field while using her length to gather five rebounds, a block, and a steal. 

 

• The Firebirds finally return home to Kenosha where they'll play a pair of games at Tarble Arena prior to the holiday break. The first matchup is with Augustana (Ill.) on Saturday, December 17 starting at 2 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's team, while the latter matchup is with Benedictine on Tuesday, December 20 starting at 5 p.m.