Carthage 76, Augustana (Ill.) 70
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Carthage women's basketball team faced off against the Augustana Vikings on Saturday afternoon. It was a strong day for the Firebirds, who used a productive first quarter and fourth quarter to come away with a road win over the Vikings.



Whitney Thompson got the scoring started for the Firebirds in the opening quarter with a layup on Carthage's opening possession. Two trips to the free throw line for Malia Green and another layup for Thompson gave the Firebirds an early 7-0 lead. Jazmeriah Jones got the Vikings on the scoreboard with a layup, which was answered immediately by a layup from Grace Cord to hold the Firebirds lead at seven points with 7:20 left in the first period. The Vikings worked the deficit down to five points before a three from Alyssa Orozco extended the Carthage lead to eight points, which would hold as the Carthage lead at the end of the quarter, with the Firebirds ahead 20-12. Cord and Thompson led the way for Carthage, each scoring four points in the quarter. 

A free throw and a three pointer for the Vikings cut the Carthage lead to four points to open the second quarter. A three from Delaney Elsmore extended the lead back to seven and ended the Augustana scoring run with 7:52 to play in the first half. A 4-0 run for the Vikings cut the lead down to three, to which Elmore once again responded with a three pointer to keep Carthage ahead by multiple possessions. The Firebirds built the lead up to as high as eight points in the quarter, but a late surge for the Vikings cut the deficit to four points with the Firebirds leading 38-34 at the half. Elsmore led the way with 11 points, including three three pointers, in the second quarter and 13 points in the first half.

Cord got the Firebirds offense started with three straight layups to open the third quarter. A pair of layups from Green and Elsmore extended the lead to eight points before a pair of Augustana threes brought the Carthage lead to 48-46 with four minutes to play in the quarter. Layup from Ciara Hull tied the game at 48-48 with 3:33 to play and the two squads traded baskets for the rest of the quarter. The third quarter ended with the game tied at 52-52.

Orozco hit a three to open the fourth quarter, giving Carthage a 55-52 lead. A 5-0 run gave the Vikings a brief 57-55 lead before a three from Cord flipped the lead back over to the Firebirds with 7:26 to play. Cord's three sparked a 10-0 run for the Firebirds, as the team extended the lead to 65-57. Augustana found themselves in foul trouble following the run, as Carthage's last 11 points came from the free throw line as the Firebirds came away with a 76-70 victory over the Vikings.



 

• Alyssa Orozco - 16 points*, 6 rebounds, 2 steals*
• Delaney Elsmore - 16 points*, 3 rebounds
• Malia Green - 13 points, 7 rebounds*
• Grace Cord - 13 points, 4 rebounds

*led team in stat category



"A really gritty win today!" said Head Coach Megan Jones. "We didn't play our best but we gutted it out and did what we needed to do to win the game. We're proud of where we are at as a group, everyone is doing their job to continue to move us forward! I especially want to shout out our bench, they have been awesome in every way. We had two really intense days of practice the last two days and that's a credit to each one of our players to continue to help us improve at the most important time of the year."



The Firebirds (13-10, 7-7 CCIW) return to Tarble Arena on Wednesday, Feb 18 to host North Central College (Ill.) at 7 p.m. Action will be streamed live on the CCIW network. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.