KENOSHA, Wis. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team gave Carthage College all it could handle before falling to the third-seed Lady Reds 61-53 in the opening round of the CCIW Tournament.
 
Elmhurst and Carthage traded buckets for much of the first quarter before Carthage established a 19-13 lead with 40 seconds left in the first quarter. A Kellee Clay three-pointer with 21 seconds left cut the deficit down to three after the first 10 minutes of action. Carthage pushed its lead up to eight midway through the second quarter, but Elmhurst surged back, rattling off a 14-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 31-30 lead on an Elena Cabrera layup with 28 seconds left in the half. Carthage's Bailey Gilbert hit a bucket with seven seconds remaining to give the Lady Reds a 32-31 lead at the break.
 
Carthage jumped out to a five-point cushion early in the third, but an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Lauren Goff three-pointers put the Bluejays in front 44-41 with four minutes left to play in the third quarter. Carthage tied the game on an Autumn Kalis three-pointer and Maggie Berigan knocked down a jumper to put the Lady Reds up 46-44 after three quarters.
 
The Lady Reds scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to push their lead back to six. Carthage led by seven (53-46) with four minutes remaining, but Lisa Logan knocked down a three-pointer to bring Elmhurst to within four with three minutes remaining. The Bluejays came no closer as Carthage scored the next six points to open up a double-digit lead and pull away for the victory.
 
Elmhurst finished the game shooting 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the floor, including 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from three-point range. The Bluejays struggled in the fourth quarter, hitting just 2-of-19 shots. The Lady Reds hit 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field, including 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from downtown.
 
Logan led Elmhurst in the loss with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Goff added nine points while Marissa Urso and Becca Gerke scored eight points apiece.
 
Kalis and Gilbert led Carthage with 13 points apiece. Rachel Sydlowski and Berigan scored 11 points each for the Lady Reds.

Elmhurst closed out the season with a 9-16 overall record.