KENOSHA, Wis. – A buzzer-beating layup at the end of regulation by Autumn Kalis helped keep the Carthage College women’s basketball hopes alive, eventually winning a double-overtime game over Augustana 90-84 Saturday night in Tarble Arena.

Getting her third start of the season, Kelsey Coshungot the Lady Reds (7-5, 2-1 CCIW) going after grabbing an offensive rebound and converting a layup. Carthage would take a 4-0 lead on their next offensive possession after a step back jumper from Maggie Berigan. A three-pointer from Sammie Woodward and score from Berigan would eventually put the home team out in front by 10 with just four minutes left in the quarter.

After beginning the second period with an 18-9 advantage, the Lady Reds would hold off an Augustana (7-6, 2-2 CCIW) comeback attempt, going back out in front by double-digits after Woodward found Berigan for a score in the paint. As time expired in the half, Autumn Kalis connected on a contested jumper to set the scoreboard at 34-23 in favor of Carthage.

The Vikings would hold the Lady Reds off the board for the first two minutes of the second half, before Woodward came down and converted an and-one opportunity to make it 37-29. Augustana continued to inch their way back into the game, ending the quarter trailing Carthage by just two after sinking a jumper as the clock hit zero.

While the visitors would tie the game at 52 to begin the final 10 minutes of play, Woodward responded with a three before Kalis hit one on the following offensive possession. With two and a half minutes left in the game, the Vikings got within one point, before later taking their first lead of the game 65-64 with one minute left. Trailing by two with seconds left, Kalis drove the length of the court to hit the game-tying layup to send the game to overtime at 69-all.

After reaching another stalemate at 72, Woodward broke the tie with a move to the paint to make it 74-72 with just over two and a half minutes left. A three from Kalis at the top of the arc made it 77-75 in favor of the Lady Reds, before the Vikings responded with a layup to tie it at 77, eventually sending the game to a second extra period.

A jumper from Woodward and free throws from Augustana kept the game even, with the two teams trading three pointers to make it 82-all with just over two minutes left. Two free throws and a score down low by Kalis put Carthage out in front with a minute remaining, a lead the Lady Reds would hold until the final buzzer.

Carthage will remain at home next week and host Carroll on Wednesday, January 8 at 7 p.m. in Tarble Arena.

Head Coach Tim Bernero

“We’ve been dealing with a little bit of adversity, and knew it was going to be a tough matchup since they have players that are pretty mobile at 5’9” or taller. We were able to get in the zone during the first half and slow them down a bit, but in the second I thought we lost some of our intensity. The contributions we got were great, Nansy did a great job, Lauren grabbed eight rebounds and she helped quite a bit. Amanda Larson played 48 minutes and made a three to get us up, she did a great job. Woodward and Kalis were out there making some huge plays. I couldn’t be prouder of all of them, I think in overtime we started talking about how it will come down to who has the guts to win the game. Augustana is a good basketball team and they played tough, but we were able to persevere.”

Quick Facts

• Sammie Woodward scored a career-best 31 points tonight, just missing a double-double with nine assists while grabbing five rebounds and adding two steals.
• Woodward becomes the second student-athlete to score 30 or more in a game this season after Autumn Kalis’ performance at Chicago on December 15.
• After scoring 27 tonight, Kalis has now dropped 20 or more in six contests for Carthage this season.
• The senior guard moved up to 24th in school history with 1,027 career points.