Box Score DECATUR, Ill. - The Elmhurst women's basketball team won its fifth straight contest and remained unbeaten in CCIW play by scoring the game's final 13 points to defeat Millikin University 72-62.

Elmhurst improved to 14-2 overall and a perfect 5-0 in conference play while Millikin slipped to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in league play with the loss.

The Bluejays fell behind 25-12 with 14 minutes gone by in the first half, but Elmhurst closed with a furious 18-7 run to pull to within two points (32-30) at the break.

Elmhurst opened up an early four-point lead in the second half before Millikin responded and opened up a 55-50 lead with seven minutes to play. Back-to-back buckets from Megan Ney and Devin Vaughn brought the Bluejays to within a point.

A Millikin bucket from Brittany Czaplicki gave the Big Blue a 57-54 cushion with five minutes left, but Elmhurst answered with consecutive buckets from Vaughn and Tess Godhardt to put the Bluejays up 59-57.

A pair of free throws from Czaplicki and a three-pointer from Olya Cholewick put Millikin on top 62-59 with 3:32 to play.

A free throw from Ney pulled the Bluejays to within one and after a Godhardt steal, Meghan Merklein knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the score with 1:51 left on the clock.

Following a miss from Millikin, Merklein grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The Elmhurst senior sank both free throws to give the Bluejays a 64-62 lead. After a Millikin missed shot , Godhardt cleaned up he glass on Jordan Maisto's long jumper and hit a put-back to give the Bluejays a four-point cushion with 49 seconds remaining.

The Bluejays hit all six of their final free throws to pull away for the 10-point victory. Millikin missed its final four shots and turned the ball over four times in the game's final 3:30.
Godhardt recorded her second-straight double-double and scored 22 points for the second consecutive game to lead the Bluejays past the Big Blue. Godhardt shot 9-of-14 from the floor and pulled down 10 rebounds. She also recorded three steals in the final three minutes to help the Bluejays seal the win.

Ney added a double-double for the Bluejays with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Merklein added 15 points in the win. Jordan Maisto chipped in with eight points and Devin Vaughn scored seven for the Bluejays.

Cholewick, Crystal Ziegler, and Heather Pruemer scored 13 points apiece to lead the Big Blue in the loss. Cholewick added seven steals for Millikin.

The Bluejays finished the game shooting 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the floor, including 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from downtown. The Bluejays were a solid 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the foul line.

Millikin shot only 33.9 percent (21-of-62) from the field, including 35.0 percent (7-of-20) from downtown. The Big Blue struggled from the foul line, hitting only 56.5 percent (13-of-23) of its shots.

Elmhurst will host Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday (January 21) in a CCIW showdown. The Bluejays are currently tied with the Titans for the top spot in the CCIW standings.