Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team faded down the stretch, falling to Millikin University 83-75 at R.A. Faganel Hall.

With the score tied at 64-64 with 3:36 to play, Millikin (14-8 6-5 CCIW) outscored Elmhurst (16-6, 7-4 CCIW) 19-11 over the remainder of the game to earn the victory.

Elmhurst opened an 11-point first half lead, but back-to-back three-point plays allowed the Big Blue to cut the Bluejays lead down to just five points at the half. The Bluejays quickly pushed their lead back to nine points at the start of the second half, but Millikin slowly chipped away, evening the score at 48-48 with 13:27 left on the clock.

The two teams traded buckets before a 6-0 run by Elmhurst gave the Bluejays a 58-52 cushion with 9:22 left on the clock. Millikin retook the lead with 3:48 left, but the Bluejays evened the score on Meghan Merklein's jumper with 3:36.

Millikin's Heather Pruemer knocked down her first three-pointer of the year to give the Big Blue a three-point cushion. Millikin slowly built a seven-point lead with less than a minute to play and hit 10-of-12 free throws in the closing minute to seal the victory.

Megan Ney led the Bluejays in the loss with a double-double, totaling a game-high in both points (20) and rebounds (10). Meghan Merklein and Tess Godhardt added 15 points apiece for the Bluejays. Devin Vaughn scored eight while dishing out three assists.

Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the floor., including 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from downtown. The Bluejays struggled in the second half, shooting only 36.8 percent (14-of-38). Elmhurst shot 25-of-34 (73.5 percent) from the foul line.

Crystal Zeigler and Pruemer scored 18 points apiece to lead the Big Blue in the victory. Cecily Aldridge added 13 points and Julia Robert scored 10.

Millikin finished the game shooting 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field, including 50.0 percent (16-of-32) in the second half. The Big Blue shot 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc and 75.8 percent (25-of-33) from the foul line

With the loss, Elmhurst has only a one game lead over Millikin for the fourth and final spot in the CCIW Tournament. Elmhurst travels to Augustana College on Saturday (February 11).