Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. - After rallying to pull to within two points before halftime, a poor second half doomed the Elmhurst College women's basketball team in a 79-58 loss to Carthage College.

Carthage (16-6, 7-4 CCIW) outscored the Bluejays 38-19 in the second half to pull away for the 21-point victory.

In the opening half, Carthage opened up a 13-point lead at 30-17 with eight minutes remaining, but the Bluejays used a 22-9 run over the next seven minutes to knot the score at 39. Carthage used a Diana Jacklin lay-up with 28 seconds left to take a 41-39 lead at the break.

The Lady Reds started the second half by limiting Elmhurst (9-12, 4-6 CCIW) to only two points in the opening seven minutes while establishing up a double-digit lead. Leading by 10 with eight minutes to play, Carthage used a 10-0 run to open up a 20-point lead and put the game out of reach.

Megan Ney scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Bluejays in the loss. Ney finished the game shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the foul line. She added 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Meghan Merklein added 16 points for the Bluejays. Kelsey Monroe added five in the loss for Elmhurst.

After shooting 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the opening half, the Bluejays hit just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) in the second half, finishing the game shooting 36.4 percent (20-of-55). The Bluejays struggled from long range, hitting just 3-of-17 attempts beyond the arc (17.6 percent).

Jacklin led four Carthage players in double figures with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Cailee Corcoran added 14 points and eight rebounds for Carthage while Heather Gilmore pitched in with 13 points. Dani Ripkey scored 12 points, while shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc for Carthage.

Carthage finished the contest shooting 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the floor, including 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from downtown. The Lady Reds scored over half of their points (40) inside the paint. Carthage also outrebounded the Bluejays 39-29. 

Elmhurst travels to North Park University on Saturday, February 12.