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Carthage College Athletics

The Official Website of The Carthage College Firebirds
Orozco-Alyssa
Kayleigh Wieska
63
Winner Carthage CARTH 13-4,5-3 CCIW
60
North Central (IL) NCC 7-10,3-5 CCIW
Winner
Carthage CARTH
13-4,5-3 CCIW
63
Final
60
North Central (IL) NCC
7-10,3-5 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Carthage CARTH 16 10 16 14 7 63
North Central (IL) NCC 24 11 13 8 4 60

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Orozco Hits Game Winner as Firebirds Complete Comeback in Naperville

Carthage 63, North Central 60 (OT)
NAPERVILLE - The Carthage women's basketball team traveled to Naperville on Wednesday evening for a midweek CCIW contest with the North Central College Cardinals. The Firebirds went down early in the game, but battled back to force overtime, where Carthage earned the road win in thrilling fashion.



Malia Green opened the game with a three pointer to get the Firebirds on the scoreboard with their first possession of the quarter. A layup on the next possession from Marianna Morrissey gave the Firebirds a 5-2 lead with 9:07 to play. The Cardinals go on a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Green hit another three to tie the game with 6:28 to go. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, as the Cardinals used a 5-0 run to jump ahead 24-16. 

Morrissey opened the second quarter with a made jump shot to cut the deficit to six points. The two sides traded free throws before a three from North Central's Megan McClure extended the lead to 10 points for the Cardinals. Back to back baskets from Grace Wamser and Grace Cord cut the lead back to six points before the Cardinals would extend it back to nine to end the half with a 35-26 lead. Morrissey led the Firebirds at the half with eight points. 

The Cardinals opened the second half with a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 13 points. Layups from Green and Emma Thistle cut the score back to a nine point difference and a score from Jessie Pakaski cut the deficit to seven points with 6:49 to play in the third quarter. The teams traded free throws before a three from Pakaski brought the Firebirds within six. A three from Nora Ahram on the next possession cut the deficit in half as the Firebirds trailed 43-40 with 3:19 on the clock. The Cardinals went on a 5-2 run to end the quarter hanging on to a 48-42 lead. Six Firebirds scored in the third quarter with Pakaski leading the charge with five points in the period.

Thistle got the fourth quarter comeback started with a three to cut the score to 49-45. A pair of free throws for Thistle on the next possession brought the Firebirds within two points of tying the game. A free throw and a layup for the Cardinals extended the North Central lead back to five points with five minutes to play. A layup from Cord, followed by a free throw from Thistle brought the score to 54-52 with 3:21 to play. Back to back scores from Morrissey and a score from the North Central offense tied the game at 56-56 with 41 seconds left. Both sides failed to score to end regulation and the game went to overtime. Thistle led the team with six points in the fourth quarter and eight points in the second half.

Pakaski gave the Firebirds the lead with the first points of overtime coming with 2:47 to play in the overtime period. The Cardinals tied the game a minute later and Elena Knebel answered back with a jump shot to take a 60-58 lead. A pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds tied the game at 60-60. Carthage called time out to advance the ball to the offensive end with 21.1 seconds on the clock. Morrissey inbounded the ball to Thistle, who got the ball back to Morrissey near the free throw line. Morrissey drove to her right into the paint and as the Cardinals defense crashed into the paint, the senior found Alyssa Orozco in the corner. Orozco drained the go ahead three with 4.6 left on the clock. The Cardinals attempted a game tying shot to send the game to double overtime, but the shot was sent back by a block from Thistle to end the game.




 
  • Morrissey led the Firebirds with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
  • Thistle finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Thistle also played all 45 minutes of the game.
  • Elena Knebel led the team in rebounds with nine.



"Wow!" exclaimed Head Coach Megan Jones. "What a resilient win! We started really flat on the defensive end and could not slow them down. At halftime we talked about getting defensive kills and stringing together three stops in a row. We chipped away by putting together stops and scores to give ourselves a chance. We outrebounded them by 18 which also contributed to the way we were able to fight back after being down. I was really proud of the way we executed to finish the game. Mari drew a lot of attention on the drive and found Alyssa at the right time for the kick out and Alyssa confidently knocked it down. It's been a while since Carthage has won at North Central and it makes the comeback win that much better."



The Firebirds (13-4, 5-3 CCIW) return to Tarble Arena on Jan. 25 as the Firebirds host Augustana at 2 p.m. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.

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