Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - Playing without their leading scorer, the Elmhurst College women's basketball team used a second half rally to edge North Central College 63-60.

Elmhurst improved to 16-4 overall and 7-2 in the CCIW with the win, while North Central fell to 6-14 overall and 0-9 in league competition.

The back-and-forth affair featured 16 lead changes and 12 ties. An injury to Meghan Merklein forced the Bluejays' leading scorer to miss the game, and early foul trouble forced the Bluejays to go deep into its bench in the opening half. North Central led 32-28 at the break.

The Bluejays opened the second half on a 6-0 run to quickly go back in front. The two teams proceeded to trade buckets over the next 10 minutes as the lead changed hands 10 times and their were seven ties.

Elmhurst broke a 51-51 tie on a pair of free throws from Tess Godhardt with 7:19 left to play. A steal and a bucket from Godhardt gave the Bluejays a four-point cushion with 6:30 remaining. The Cardinals closed to two points on two occasions, but Fiona McMahon scored a bucket each time to give the Bluejays a four-point advantage. Leading by three with less than a minute to play, McMahon cleaned up an offensive rebound and hit a put-back to extend Elmhurst's lead to five.

The Cardinals closed to within three points on a Helen Muleya lay-up, but Devin Vaughn sank a pair of free throws to put Elmhurst up five with 18.1 seconds left on the clock. North Central drove down the court, but the Cardinals couldn't find an open look, running 13 seconds off the clock before calling a timeout. Muleya hit a lay-up as time expired to make the final score 63-60.

After a sluggish opening half (10-of-29 shooting for 34.5 percent) the Bluejays picked up their shooting in the second, finishing the contest shooting 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the floor. Elmhurst was solid from the charity stripe, knocking down 14-of-17 attempts (82.4 percent).

North Central finished the contest hitting 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the floor, including 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc. The Cardinals finished the game with a 43-36 edge in rebounding.

Vaughn led Elmhurst and all scorers with 15 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Godhardt added 13 points, including 11 in the second half. Jordan Maisto scored seven points while Megan Ney recorded six points, nine rebounds, and a game-high six blocked shots. McMahon scored all six of her points in the second half and collected seven rebounds for the Bluejays.

Jenny Swanson and Sophie Newson scored 10 points apiece to pace the Cardinals in the loss. Muleya finished with nine points and eight boards for the Cardinals.

Elmhurst travels to Wheaton College on Saturday, February 4.