Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. – A late 9-0 scoring run hurt the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team as the Titans, who led by as many as 16 in the first half, lost for the first time in the conference 90-83, to Carthage at Tarbel Arena in Kenosha, Wis., on Saturday, Jan. 25.

Illinois Wesleyan had a six-game losing streak snapped and is now 12-6 overall and 6-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Lady Reds, ranked No. 12 in the latest D3hoops.com poll and No. 11 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today Division III poll, improved to 16-2 overall and are now alone atop the CCIW with a 7-0 record.

Illinois Wesleyan led the entire first half and was up by as many as 16 at 42-26 with 3:18 before halftime. But Carthage scored the final 13 points of the first half to trail 42-39 at intermission.

Carthage then scored the first four points of the second half to take a 43-42 lead, their first of the game, and built up as much as an 8-point edge at 56-48 with 14:58 left. The game was tied at 68, 71, 75 and for the final time at 77 with 3:11 remaining. But Carthage went on a 9-0 run, five of those by Stephanie Kuzmanic, to command an 86-77 lead and held on to win.

Carthage outrebounded IWU 43-33 and the Lady Reds committed 15 turnovers to 14 for Illinois Wesleyan.

"This is a simple process to understand why we lost this game - we let them score 93 points and we cannot do that," said IWU head coach Mia Smith in a postgame interview with Bloomington's WJBC Radio. "I felt that we should have won this game. We'll build on what we learn for next week."

Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .431 (31 of 72)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .409 (9 of 22)
Free Throw Percentage - .857 (12 of 14)
Senior Lexi Baltes (18 points, 4 rebounds)
Senior Katy Seibring (16 points, 7 rebounds)
Senior Colleen McMahon (15 points, 6 assists)
Senior Taylor Reaber (11 points, 5 rebounds)
Junior Kasey Reaber (10 points, career-high 9 assists)

Carthage Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .516 (33 of 64)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .333 (5 of 15)
Free Throw Percentage - .792 (19 of 24)
Stephanie Kuzmanic (33 points, 10 assists)
Michelle Wenzel (10 rebounds)

Who's Next?
The Titans play at Millikin in Decatur, Ill., at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29.