KENOSHA, Wis. - For the second game in a row, the Carthage Firebirds women's basketball team struggled to close in crunch time, falling to a top-three opponent in the conference standings. After falling to Carroll (Wis.) in overtime on Wednesday, the Firebirds couldn't complete a late comeback attempt against a tough Thunder team, losing 58-55 at Tarble Arena. 



 

• Final score: Wheaton (Ill.) 58, Carthage 55. 
• Location: Tarble Arena - Kenosha, Wisconsin. 
• Records: Carthage 9-11 (5-6 CCIW), Wheaton 12-8 (7-4 CCIW)

 

• Lauren Knight drilled a three-pointer to open up the scoring on Saturday afternoon, and promptly followed it up with a layup to put Carthage out front 5-0. 
• Carthage went ahead 10-5 midway through the first quarter on an Ayanna Ester three before almost doubling the five-point margin on an Elena Knebel layup. The Firebirds went ahead by nine - its largest lead of the game up to that point - on the Knebel two-pointer. Carthage led 16-12 after the first ten minutes of action. 
• Carthage began the second quarter on a 6-0 run and held the Thunder scoreless for the first 4:26. Morrissey scored consecutive buckets on fastbreak layups before Wheaton finally answered. 
• The Thunder responded to Carthage's early-quarter run by holding the Firebirds scoreless for nearly three minutes. The 8-0 Thunder run was ended by an Elena Knebel conversion at the charity stripe. Wheaton would eventually re-take the lead on a three-point bucket at the 1:51 mark of the quarter. 
• Wheaton led 30-24 heading into halftime after holding Carthage to only eight points in the second quarter. 
• The two teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the second half, with Carthage closing the margin to only a single point with a Morrissey fastbreak layup. Carthage's offense cooled once again, going six minutes without scoring a basket before Emma Thistle connected from long distance. 
• Wheaton's six-point margin advantage from the first half held firm, with the Thunder ahead 42-36 in anticipation of the fourth quarter. 
• A three-pointer from Wheaton gave the Thunder their largest lead of the day at ten points before Malia Green subbed in for Carthage and answered with a huge trey of her own. Green stole a pass on the subsequent Thunder possession and then scored in the paint to chisel the deficit in half - with Carthage trailing 46-41 at the 6:13 mark. 
• The Firebirds would get within three points on a number of occasions as the clock ticked down, but Wheaton consistently answered on the offensive end to clinch the victory. 
• Carthage scored 11 more points off turnovers than Wheaton - led by Marianna Morrissey - and also outscored the Thunder's bench by 11. The Firebirds, however, failed to score a second chance point in the contest and shot the ball at a 38.6/23.8/50% clip. 12 different Firebirds saw the floor today.

 

• A new career best in scoring was set tonight, as Marianna Morrissey hit the 20-point mark for the first time in her budding career. Morrissey also was active on the boards and in the passing lanes, collecting nine rebounds and three steals. The sophomore wing shot 9-13 from the floor, feasting primarily on transition layups. 
• Bridget Barrett returned to the court this afternoon and hauled in nine boards and stole two passes. 
• Albeit in a limited amount of action (four minutes), Malia Green hit a huge three, promptly stole an inbounds pass, and then scored in the paint on the following possession to help fuel a Firebird comeback. 

 

• The Firebirds hit the road for their next two games, first heading to Rock Island, Illinois to take on Augustana College on Saturday, February 4 beginning at 5 p.m.