North Central Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team slipped to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in CCIW play following a 65-62 loss to North Central College.
Elmhurst seemed to have control of the game late in the first half, building a 13-point advantage with less than two minutes to play. However, North Central (7-6, 2-1 CCIW) closed the half on a 8-0 run to pull to within five points (36-31) at the break.
Elmhurst built its lead back to nine points early in the second half, but a 12-2 run by North Central gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game with 9:35 to play. The two teams traded baskets and leads for the next several minutes, until Elmhurst took a 60-57 lead on a Brittany Bobruk 3-pointer. Elmhurst led it by three points with 2:07 left, but a 3-pointer by North Central's Jessica Davis tied the score with 1:49 to play. After a pair of missed jumpers by the Bluejays, the Cardinals took the lead with 26 seconds to go when Brianne Parra hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock.
After a missed 3-pointer by Elmhurst, North Central missed a free throw with the Bluejays taking the ball with 5.3 seconds to play. An intentional foul on North Central gave Elmhurst two free throws and the ball, but the Bluejays missed both free throws and their 3-point attempt in the closing seconds fell short.
Elmhurst shot only 34.6 percent (27-of-78) from the floor, including just 26.3 percent (10-of-38) in the second half. The Bluejays finished 6-of-20 (30.0 percent) from downtown and only 2-of-8 (25.0 percent) from the foul line. North Central shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field, including 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from downtown.
The Cardinals finished with a 49-40 edged on the glass, and a 36-26 advantage in scoring in the paint.
Bobruk finished with a season-high 26 points, one point shy of her career high. She added a team high nine rebounds and six blocks. Kelsey Monroe finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Lyndsie Long added 10 points to become the eighth player in Elmhurst history to score 1,000 career points.
Parra came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with 20 points and eight boards. Meghan McGuire added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Davis finished with 15 points.
Elmhurst hosts Carthage College on Tuesday, January 20.
