KENOSHA, Wis. - In the battle of the birds at Tarble Arena, the Firebirds came out on top over the North Central College Cardinals. Leading most of the way, and by as many as 23, Carthage had a scare at the end of the game as North Central went on a flurry offensively; the Firebirds did just enough, particularly at the foul line late, to grab the win. 



 

• Final score: Carthage 77, North Central (Ill.) 72. 
• Location: Tarble Arena - Kenosha, Wisconsin. 
• Records: Carthage 7-8 (3-3 CCIW), North Central 4-10 (1-5 CCIW). 

 
 

• The visiting Cardinals scored the first three points of the contest before Carthage scored the next nine. Marianna Morrissey contributed to seven of those nine points, scoring four and assisting Lauren Knight on an early three-pointer. 
• Knight and Morrissey scored the next seven for Carthage and pushed their scoring totals to 11 and six, respectively. A Destiny Antoine layup with just over a minute remaining in the quarter closed the scoring for the first period, with the Firebirds out to a firm 21-8 lead. 
• The first quarter in tonight's contest was yet another dominant quarter for the Firebirds defensively, as Carthage forced six Cardinal turnovers and held North Central to 3/15 shooting from the floor. Carthage has now held an opponent to under ten points in a quarter 13 times this season. 
• North Central shot the ball much better in the early going of the second period, trimming the Firebird lead to six midway through the quarter. Yet again, however, Marianna Morrissey went on a run of her own - scoring six in a row - to push the advantage back to 12. 
• An Ayanna Ester three-pointer gave Carthage its largest lead of the game at 15, and the lead was 14 leading into the locker room break. North Central turned the ball over another seven times in the period, but shot the ball much better (6-13). 
• Destiny Antoine hit a three to begin the second half - her first of the season. Antoine decided one wasn't enough and promptly nailed another to push Carthage ahead by 19 early in the third quarter. A Marianna Morrissey layup resulted in Carthage's largest lead of the game at 21. 
• The Cardinals fought back with an 8-0 run, but back-to-back Firebird buckets by Ester (three-pointer) and Elena Knebel (layup) re-established the firm margin. Both offenses converted late in the quarter, with the score situated at 56-39 heading into the final ten minutes of action. 
• Elena Knebel nailed a jumper off of a pass from Marianna Morrissey to give the home team a 22-point lead just a few minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals fought hard. North Central went on a furious 15-2 run to shave the deficit to ten. 
• Knebel, in a spectacular effort tonight, scored twice in the paint off of excellent feeds from Knight and Antoine - pushing the lead back to 14. Another Cardinal run - an 8-0 flurry this time - whittled with margin to six. The Firebirds nailed key free throws at the end of the game as North Central fouled to extend the clock, however, and pulled away. Carthage walked away with a 77-72 victory. 
• After turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, North Central solved Carthage's press and turned it over only twice in the second half. Carthage shot 16-20 from the charity stripe (80%) and 27-60 from the field (45%) en route to a solid performance offensively. The Firebirds out-rebounded North Central by nine.

 

• It was yet another excellent performance from Morrissey, who recorded a 17-point, eight-rebound, four-assist, four-steal game. Morrissey also hit 5-6 shots from the foul line. 
• Elena Knebel stepped up once again, scoring a career-high in points (14) for the third-consecutive game. Knebel also hauled in 12 rebounds - a career high - to notch the first double-double of her young career. Elena shot 60% from the field and hit both of her free throw attempts as well. 
• Destiny Antoine played well as a starter for Coach Bernero's squad, scoring ten points, gathering five rebounds, and finding three teammates for made baskets. Antoine hit her first two three-pointers of the season tonight. 
• Junior guard Lauren Knight shot the ball well for the second game in a row, scoring 16 points on an efficient 5-10 shooting. 
• Also playing well off the bench was first-year guard Malia Green, who notched a career-high 11 minutes and scored on a layup. 
• Ayanna Ester crashed the boards, collecting eight rebounds - the most in any game of her four-year career. 

 

• The Firebirds depart Kenosha for a three-game road trip, starting with a matchup against Wheaton (Ill.) on Saturday, January 14 beginning at 5 p.m.