Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - Fiona McMahon scored a career-high 36 points to power the Elmhurst women's basketball team to a 97-90 conference-opening win over North Central.

Elmhurst (7-5, 1-0 CCIW) led 53-41 at the break and surged out to a 22-point second half lead, but North Central (7-5, 0-1) answered back as the Cardinals' relentless press gave the Bluejays' fits all night long. The Cardinals trimmed the Bluejays' led down to 12 points with a 12-2 run. The Bluejays pushed their lead back to 18 points, but the Cardinals came right back with an 18-4 run to close to within four points with seven minutes left on the clock.

The Bluejays used an 11-3 run to open up a 12-point lead with 2:47 remaining and put the game out of reach.

Elmhurst shot 53.7 percent (26-of-67) from the floor, including 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from downtown. When the Bluejays were able to break the press, they had wide open lay-ups, leading to 56 points scored in the paint. McMahon shot 15-of-20 from the floor and scored the fourth-highest single-total in Elmhurst history with a career-high 36 points. She added a career-high 16 rebounds to record a double-double. Tess Godhardt added 22 points while shooting 9-of17 from the floor.  Courtney Spencer came off the bench to score nine for Elmhurst while Karen Senette finished with eight points and seven assists. The Bluejays dominated on the glass, outrebounding North Central by 21 (58-37).

North Central shot just 35.5 percent (33-of-93) from the floor, including just 20.5 percent (8-of-39) from downtown. The Cardinals forced Elmhurst into 38 turnovers, and scored 33 points off of the Elmhurst mistakes. Larynn Shumaker came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with 19 points. Emily Murphy scored 12 for North Central while Kelsey Cooling finished with 10.

Elmhurst continues CCIW play on Saturday by travelling to Illinois Wesleyan University.