Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team upended 10th-ranked Carthage College 68-56 to advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship game for the first time in school history.

Elmhurst (18-8), making just its third appearance in the CCIW Tournament, overpowered Carthage (22-4) in the second half, outscoring the Lady Reds 42-25 en route to the 12-point victory. The Bluejays' win snapped a 11-game winning streak by Carthage. 

Carthage led 31-26 at the half after a strong opening 20 minutes. The Lady Reds led 15-7 with 12 minutes to go, but the Bluejays whittled the lead down to just a point with two minutes remaining on a Meghan Merklein 3-pointer. Back-to-back buckets by Carthage gave the Lady Reds the 31-26 halftime advantage.

The second half belonged to the Bluejays as Elmhurst quickly surged ahead. With the score tied at 36 just five minutes into the half, the Bluejays used a 9-0 run to open up a 45-36 advantage with 11 minutes to play. Carthage responded with an 8-0 run to pull to within one (45-44) with eight minutes remaining, but the Bluejays answered back, using a 7-0 run to reestablish an eight-point lead (54-46) with 5:33 left on the clock. 

A 3-pointer by Carthage's Katie Klemke cut the Bluejays' cushion down to five, but the Lady Reds came no closer, as the Bluejays rattled off seven straight points to take a 61-49 advantage and put the game out of reach. 

Carthage constantly double-teamed CCIW Most Outstanding Player Lyndsie Long, holding the Bluejays' leading scorer to a season low nine points. While Long was limited to just eight shots, Merklein, Kelsey Monroe, and Megan Ney all picked up the scoring slack. Merklein led all scorers with a game-high 17 points, including 12 in the opening half. Merklein finished with a double-double totaling a game-high 12 rebounds. After scoring two points in the first half, Monroe poured in 13 second-half points to finish with 15 points. She added five rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots for the Bluejays. Ney finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and two steals for the Bluejays. Rashida Joiner added five points and a game-high five assists in the victory.

Carthage was led by Heather Gilmore's 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Rosie Dorn added 14 points for the Titans while Diana Jacklin totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Reds. 

Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the floor, while holding Carthage to only 34.5 percent shooting (20-of-58). 

After giving up nine offensive rebounds in the first half, the Bluejays crashed the boards in the second, outrebounding the Lady Reds by nine in the game's final 20 minutes. The Bluejays finished with a 38-33 edge on the glass.

"I'm extremely proud of the way our team played tonight," said Elmhurst Head Coach Tethnie Werner. 'They were not satisffied with the way they played the opening half, and they played a great second half to get the win. Making the tournament's championship game is a big step for our program, but we're out to win the championship game, and not just play in it."

Elmhurst will face the winner of the game between Illinois Wesleyan University and Millikin University on Saturday (February 27), at 2:00 p.m. The winner of the CCIW Tournament Championship game receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.