ELMHURST, Ill. - Katie Swanson's season-high 16 points were not enough as the Elmhurst women's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Wartburg College 73-70. 
 

Swanson reached 16 points by shooting 6-10 from the field, 2-6 from three-point range, and 2-3 from the free throw stripe. 

Kailey Kladivo led the Knights with 24 points, shooting nine of 12 from the field and six of eight from the free throw stripe. 
 

Elmhurst used an 12-2 run early in the first half to jump out to a 24-12 lead. During that three-minute stretch, five different Bluejays scored with Claire Monroe, Kaela Jones, and Melanie Schwerdtmann all chipping in with three points. Elmhurst made three of their first five three-point shots in the contest. 

However, Wartburg stepped up on the defensive end for the rest of the half, limiting the Bluejays to just seven points in the half's final 10 minutes, which included a four-minute Elmhurst drought. The Knights used this defense and a Bobbi Burrows three-pointer to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room. 

To begin the second half, Elmhurst used a pair of three-pointers from Monroe and Swanson to knot the score at 41, but Wartburg once again pulled away, leading by as much as nine. 
 
The Bluejays fought back with Swanson leading the way. She went on a personal 5-0 run to give the the Bluejays their first lead of the half with 7:06 remaining.

The two teams traded leads for the rest of the contest until the final minutes. 

In the final two minutes, Elmhurst had three chances to knot the score. However, the Bluejays but turned the ball over on two of those possessions and, on the final one, Hannah Lipman threw up a half-court desperation shot that went off the side of the backboard. 

Swanson, Fiona McMahon, (13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks), and Schwerdtmann (11 points, seven rebounds) reached double figures for the Bluejays. Lipman led the team with four assists.

Kladivo scored 16 of her 24 in the second half to lead all scorers. She also grabbed six boards. Miranda Murphy added 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. 

With the loss, the Bluejays fall to 3-1 on the season, while Wartburg improves to 4-0.

Elmhurst travels to Coe College on November 25.