Box Score ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Elmhurst women's basketball team built a big lead early and then rallied from a late deficit to defeat Augustana 75-71.
Elmhurst (13-10, 5-7 CCIW) erased a six-point deficit in the final three minutes by outscoring Augustana 11-1 down the stretch. Three free throws from Elmhurst cut the deficit in half with 2:23 to play. After Augustana was whistled for an offensive foul with 1:32 remaining, the Vikings' bench was hit with a technical foul.
Karen Senette hit both technical free throws to pull Elmhurst to within a point.
Nikky Moan knocked down a jumper with 1:00 minute left to give Elmhurst its' first lead in over eight minutes at 71-70.
Augustana's Molly Etheridge split a pair of free throws to even the score at 71-71 with 49 seconds left on the clock, but
Katie Swanson hit a jumper with 22 ticks remaining to put Elmhurst on top for good.
Fiona McMahon added a pair of free throws after an Augustana miss to put the game away for the Bluejays.
Elmhurst raced out to a 26-10 lead in the game's first 13 minutes and led by 13 with two minutes left in the half, but Augustana (6-18, 2-11) closed the half on a 7-0 run to pull to within six (36-30) at the half. The Bluejays led by seven with 12:26 left in the second half, but Augustana outscored Elmhurst 28-14 over the next eight minutes to grab a 69-62 lead and set the stage for Elmhurst's comeback.
Elmhurst shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor and 73.3 percent (22-o-30) from the foul line. McMahon led the Bluejays with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Moan came off the bench to score 10 while Swanson, Senette and Hannah Limpan added nine points apiece.
Devin Vaughn and
Whitney Shaffer scored seven points each for Elmhurst.
Augustana shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the floor and an impressive 85.2 percent (23-of-27) from the foul line. Etheridge led the way for Augustana with 28 points and six rebounds while Marissa Pezzopane came off the bench to score 12.
Elmhurst can clinch a spot in the CCIW Tournament with a win over Millikin and a Carthage victory over North Park on Wednesday night.
