ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team secured its place in the CCIW Tournament by crushing #23 North Central 91-64.
 
Elmhurst (15-9, 8-5 CCIW) dominated the game from start to finish, holding the nation's top-scoring team to a season-low 23 points in the opening half and limited the Cardinals to their second-lowest scoring total of the season. With the win, the Bluejays secured place in the CCIW Tournament and moved a game back of the Cardinals for second-place in the league standings.  
 

North Central (20-4, 9-4 CCIW) scored the opening basket of the game, but from that point on the half belonged to the Bluejays. Elmhurst used a 20-2 run over the next 7:30 to open up a commanding 16-point cushion. Fiona McMahon scored six points and Claire Monroe splashed home a pair of three-pointers to ignite Elmhurst's opening run. Leading 29-13 with 7:50 left, Elmhurst ripped of a 12-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 28 points with 4:00 left. The Cardinals closed the gap to 21 points, but an Erika Johnson layup just before the half gave Elmhurst a 46-23 lead at the break.
 
Similar to the first half, the Cardinals scored the first basket before Elmhurst took control. A layup by Tess Godhardt brought North Central to within 21 points to start the half, but Elmhurst ripped off the next 11 points to take a 32-point lead (57-25) with 16:21 left to place. North Central came no closer than 24 points for the remainder of the game as Elmhurst cruised to the 27-point victory.
 

Elmhurst outshot North Central 47.8 percent (33-of-69) to 31.9 percent (22-of-69). The Bluejays also held the Cardinals to only 19.4 percent (6-of-31) from beyond the arc. Elmhurst also controlled the glass outrebounding North Central 52-37 and outscoring the Cardinals 46-32 in the paint.
 
Elmhurst turned the ball over 30 times, but North Central managed just 18 points off the Bluejays' mistakes. The Bluejays also forced 29 North Central turnovers and converted the errors into 29 points.
 
Four Bluejays combined to score 74 of the team's 91 points while nine different players put points on the scoreboard. Playing her final game at R.A. Faganel Hall, McMahon posted a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds while also blocking four shots and dishing out three assists. Monroe also scored 20 points for the Bluejays, connecting on a season-high six three-pointers, matching the entire three-point output of North Central as a team. Monroe added a team-high six assists in the win. Hannah Lipman totaled 17 points, 11 rebounds, a team-leading six assists four steals in the victory. Mikaela Eppard totaled 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a team-best five steals. Chelsea Samuels added six points while Melanie Schwerdtmann scored four for the Bluejays.
 
Godhardt was the only North Central player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with a game-high 22 point while shooting 10-of-13 from the floor. Kimberly Wilson added nine points and Jamie Cuny scored eight. 

Elmhurst travels to Illinois Weselyan University next Saturday, February 21, to wrap up its regular season.