Boxscore 

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team fell to the nationally ranked leaders of the CCIW, Illinois Wesleyan University, by a 74-61 count on Friday night. 

Illinois Wesleyan never led by double digits in the first half, but shot 56 percent to open an eight-point edge at 35-27 headed into the break. 

Elmhurst opened the second half strong, scoring four straight on baskets from Ceejay Harris to pull within four at 35-31. The Bluejays continued to battle, clawing within a point at 46-45 on a Meghan Merklein layup with 10:05 left. 

Illinois Wesleyan (16-4, 8-1) embarked on a 13-2 run to stretch the lead to double figures at 59-47 with 7:48 to play. Elmhurst could pull no closer than nine the rest of the way as the Titans led by as many as 16 points on their way to the win. 

Three Illinois Wesleyan players posted double digit games led by Olivia Lett's 16. Lett posted 14 in the first half and was held to just two in the second. Hope Schulte added 14 while Britt Hasselbring kicked in 12. The Titans shot 56.8 percent in the game (25-44) and held a 29-24 edge on the glass. 

Meghan Merklein led all scorers with 19 points for Elmhurst and was one of three players to reach double figures. Megan Ney recorded 12 points off the bench to go with eight rebounds and Kelsey Monroe contributed 10. The Bluejays shot 44.7 percent in the game and scored 25 points off of turnovers. 

Elmhurst (9-11, 4-5) will travel to Wisconsin to meet Carthage College at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.