Carthage Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team outscored Carthage College 18-7 over the game's final 4:30 to defeat the Lady Reds 57-54.
After leading by six (20-26) at halftime, Carthage (10-5, 2-2 CCIW) opened up an 11-point second half lead with with 12:35 to play. Elmhurst (9-6, 2-2 CCIW) chipped the lead down to five points with just over five minutes to go, but a Dani Ripkey 3-pointer gave Carthage a 47-34 lead with 4:27 left.
Meghan Merklein hit a pair of free throws and knocked down a jumper to cut Carthage's lead down to 47-43 with 3:43 left. Brittany Bobruk came away with a steal and a coast-to-coast lay-up to pull the Bluejays' to within a bucket with 3:20 left. After a Carthage turnover, Merklein evened the score with a jumper with two minutes remaining.
Carthage reclaimed the lead on a Lisa Gartelos lay-up with 1:41 left, but the Bluejays answered right back as Bobruk knocked down a jumper in the paint to knot the score at 49-all with 1:24 left. After Carthage missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, Merklein put Elmhurst on top for good with a 3-pointer with just 41 ticks left on the clock.
Elmhurst lengthened its lead to five points after a pair of free throws from Jen Myers. Carthage cut the deficit down to two points when Katie Jarger hit a lay-up with 13 seconds to play. Lyndsie Long knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Bluejays back up by five, but Jarger cut the deficit down to just two points with a 3-pointer with five seconds left. Kelsey Monroe split a pair of free throws to seal the victory for the Bluejays.
Elmhurst finished the game shooting only 37.5 percent (21-of-56), and only 16.7 percent (1-of-6) from beyond the arc. Carthage finished the contest, shooting 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field, including 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from downtown. Carthage outrebounded Elmhurst 40-31.
Bobruk paced the Bluejays with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Merklein came off the bench to score 16, including nine of the Bluejays' final 17 points. Long finished with 12 points.
Carthage was led by Jarger's 16 points. Gartelos finished with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Elmhurst travels to North Park University on Saturday, January 24.
