Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team had its seven-game winning streak snapped when the Bluejays upset bid of top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University fell short 74-64.

Elmhurst (10-5 overall, 3-1 CCIW) gave the Titans all they could handle for the majority of the contest. Illinois Wesleyan (15-0, 4-0 CCIW) opened up a nine-point first half lead only to see the Bluejays rattle off 12 straight points to take a 23-20 lead. The Titans reclaimed the lead late in the half and scored five straight points in the closing 20 seconds to take a 35-28 into the locker room at halftime. 

Illinois Wesleyan pushed its lead to 11 points in the opening minutes of the second half, before the Bluejays mounted another rally. Elmhurst used a 13-2 run to knot the score at 45 with 14 minutes to play. The Titans opened up a five-point lead, but Elmhurst responded with a 6-0 run to take a 55-54 lead with eight minutes remaining.

Illinois Wesleyan answered back with a 12-0 run over the next 3:30 to open up a 66-55 lead. The Bluejays managed to trim the lead down to six points, but could not come any closer as the Titans held on for the 74-64 win.

The two teams combined to turn the ball over 66 times. Elmhurst turned the ball over 38 times resulting in 36 points for Illinois Wesleyan. The Bluejays scored just 17 points off the Titans' 28 turnovers.

IWU finished the game shooting 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the floor, including 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from downtown. 

Elmhurst shot 43.9 percent (18-of-41) from the floor, including 25.0 percent (3-of-12) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays shot 89.3 percent (25-of-28) from the foul line. 

Rashida Joiner led Elmhurst in the loss with 15 points. Meghan Merklein added 14  points and seven rebounds while Lyndsie Long scored 13. Megan Ney totaled eight points and eight boards in the loss.

Illinois Wesleyan was led by Christina Solari's 16 points and eight rebounds. Nikki Preston added 14 points while Stacey Arlis scored 12. Hope Schulte finished with nine points, five assists and four steals. 

Elmhurst travels to North Park University on Tuesday, January 19.