ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team used a strong second-half to score a 63-49 win over Augustana College.
 
Elmhurst improved to 8-5 overall with the win and evened its CCIW record at 1-1 with the victory.
 
Elmhurst overcame a sluggish start in the opening half to build a three-point cushion at the half. The Bluejays were held to without a field goal for the first six minutes as Augustana built a quick 9-2 lead. Elmhurst answered back with 9-2 run to pull even at 11-11 midway through the half.
 
The Vikings built a five-point cushion after a bucket from Olivia Mayer and a three-pointer from Andrea McNally with five minutes remaining in the half. Elmhurst closed the half strong, outscoring Augustana 10-2 for the remainder of the half to lead 24-21 at the break. Fiona McMahon sparked the Bluejays' run by scoring six of Elmhurst's 10 points.
 

Augustana (6-8, 0-2 CCIW) pulled to within a point on three occasions in the second half but the Bluejays never relinquished the lead. Leading by just one with 11 minutes remaining, Elmhurst ripped off a 12-2 run to build an 11-point lead with just over seven minutes left. The Bluejays grabbed their biggest lead of the night at 17 points after a Mikaela Eppard lay-up with 3:24 left before holding on for the 14-point victory.
 
Elmhurst shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the floor, including 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from downtown. Elmhurst was solid from the foul line, hitting 12-of-15 attempts (80.0 percent).  The Bluejays dominated in the paint, outscoring Augustana 30-12 in the lane while also outrebounding the Vikings 43-29. Elmhurst also cashed in on the Vikings' mistakes, turning 14 Augustana turnovers into 22 points.
 
Fiona McMahon, who eclipsed the 1,000-point career mark in her last game, led Elmhurst's attack, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Hannah Lipman also posted a double-double, finishing with 16 points and a game-high 12 boards. Claire Monroe came off the bench to score 14 points, hitting four of the Bluejays' five three-pointers.  Eppard added seven points for the Bluejays.
 
Augustana hit 34.6 percent (18-of-52) of its shots, including just 20.0 percent (3-of-15) from beyond the arc. The Vikings were nearly perfect from the foul line, hitting 10-of-11 shots (90.9 percent).
 
Marissa Pessopane and Valerie VanRoeyen  paced Augustana with 13 points apiece in the loss. Mayer added 12 points and six assists while McNally totaled nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Elmhurst travels to Millikin University on Saturday, January 10.