CHICAGO, Ill. - The Elmhurst women's basketball team moved one step closer to a spot in the CCIW Tournament by scoring a 57-53 win over North Park University.

Elmhurst (14-9, 7-5 CCIW) led for nearly the entire contest but had to withstand a late charge from North Park to preserve the victory.

North Park (13-10, 5-7 CCIW) scored the game's opening bucket, but it was all Elmhurst after that. The Bluejays used a 14-4 run to build a 14-6 lead just seven minutes into the contest. The Vikings pulled to within three points with 3:12 remaining, but the Bluejays finished the half on a 7-0 run to carry a 32-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Elmhurst pushed its lead up to 13 points early in the second half before North Park slowly began to claw its way back into the contest. The Vikings closed to within five points midway through the half, but a 6-0 run quickly gave the Bluejays a double-digit lead with seven minutes remaining. The Bluejays led by eight (52-44) with just over a minute to play, but back-to-back three pointers from Nikki Przybyslawski and Amani Davis brought North Park to within two points with 39 seconds left to play.
 
Mikaela Eppard hit a pair of free throws to put Elmhurst up by four. After a North Park miss, Fiona McMahon hit two more free throws to give Elmhurst a 56-50 cushion with 15 seconds remaining. Przybyslawski buried another three just four seconds later to cut Elmhurst's lead in half. Katie Swanson split a pair of free throws on Elmhurst's next possession and North Park was unable to get off a shot in the final eight seconds as the Bluejays came away with the four-point victory.
 

Elmhurst overcame a sluggish shooting night, hitting just 38.5 percent (20-of-52) of its shots in the win. The Bluejays connected on just 1-of-10 three-pointers but went to the foul line 25 times, hitting 16 (64.0 percent). Elmhurst won the battle inside outscoring North Park 34-26 in the paint and outrebounding the Vikings 38-31. The Bluejays also turned 19 North Park turnovers in 24 points.
 
McMahon led all scorers with a game-high 21 points. She added eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the win. Eppard chipped in with 10 points and six boards while Hannah Lipman totaled eight points and eight rebounds. Claire Monroe finished with six points and four assists for the Bluejays.
 
North Park shot 44.0 percent (22-of-50) from the field, including 40 percent (4-of-10) from downtown. Przybyslawski led the Vikings in the loss with 19 points while Soly Roman totaled 10 points and five boards.
 
With the victory, Elmhurst remains tied with Carthage for third place in the CCIW standings with a 7-5 record. The Bluejays hold a two-game lead over North Park in the standings with two games remaining in the season.
 
Elmhurst hosts North Central College on Saturday, February 14.