CHICAGO — Career days from both Autumn Kalisand Sammie Woodward nearly led the Carthage College women’s basketball team over No. 20 Chicago, however they would ultimately fall 82-74 on Sunday at the Ratner Center.

While Kalis got the Lady Reds (4-5) on the board first with a layup, the Maroons (8-2) responded with a three moments later. After an and-one play from the home team put them out in front 8-6, Carthage scored nine unanswered points to reclaim the lead. The Lady Reds would hold a 23-20 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

It was a back-and-forth second quarter, with six lead changes and two ties. Chicago would take the lead into the lockers for the half however, up 39-38.

After Carthage drew the game even early in the third period, the home team inched out in front for the remainder of the quarter and held an eight-point lead headed to the fourth. The Lady Reds trimmed their deficit down to two midway through the final 10 minutes of play, as a score from Kalis made it 64-62 with just over six minutes remaining. However, the Maroons would respond and go back out in front by 10, holding off the Carthage comeback attempt over the final minutes.

The Lady Reds will take a break from play before heading to Nashville for the Basketball Destinations Music City Classic beginning on December 29.

Head Coach Tim Bernero

“We’ve dealt with some adversity during the last couple of days, and I thought the team did a good job standing up to that. We got off to a good start and made some shots. Autumn has been great, the way she’s making shots, I don’t know if anybody else in the country is doing what she is right now. Chicago shot the ball really well from three, we did a good job rebounding but couldn’t convert many of those. I’m proud of our effort today, Chicago is a top-20 team and are really good. It was a game that we had chances to win, we had a lead in the first half but ended up chasing them at the end of the game.”

Quick Facts

For the second straight game, Autumn Kalis set a career high in points scored with 32 today.
Over the past three games, the senior is averaging 27 points, 7.3 rebounds, and is shooting 54.2 percent from the field.
After tonight, Kalis jumped from 29th to 26th on the career scoring list at Carthage, now with 976.
Fellow senior Sammie Woodward set a career best for points in a game as well, scoring 24 while grabbing five rebounds.

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