AURORA, Ill. – Mikaela Eppard scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Elmhurst women's basketball team to a 69-33 victory over Aurora University.
 
Elmhurst remained unbeaten on the 2016-17 schedule with the victory, upping its record to 4-0 on the season. Aurora slipped to 0-4 with the loss.
 
Aurora had no answer for Eppard as the junior poured in a career-best 31 points while shooting 13-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line. She finished with a double-double by adding 13 points to go with two assists and a pair of steals.
 
Trailing 9-6 midway through the opening quarter, the Bluejays surged in front building a 14-11 lead after the first quarter after four straight points from Eppard. The Bluejays slowly pulled away in the second quarter. Leading 19-13 with six minutes remaining, Elmhurst ripped off a 31-2 run to open up a 16-point cushion before carrying a 31-17 lead into the locker room at halftime. Eppard led all scorers with 17 points at the half.
 
The Bluejays continued to pull away in the third quarter, leading by as many as 23 points before Aurora shaved the deficit down to 18 points (46-28) at the end of the third quarter. Leading 48-30 early in the fourth, the Bluejays closed the contest with a 21-3 run to blow the game open and cruise to the 36-point victory.
 
The Bluejays shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the floor but just 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from three-point distance. Elmhurst was dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Spartans by 14 (37-23). Aurora had no answer for Eppard or any other Bluejay player in the paint as Elmhurst scored 46 of their 69 points in the lane. Elmhurst also cashed in 24 Aurora turnovers for 26 points and used 15 offensive rebounds to score 18 second-chance points. The Bluejays allowed Aurora to record just four offensive rebounds.
 
Every player who saw the court for Elmhurst put points on the scoreboard as 10 different players tallied buckets. Kaela Jones added 11 points and four steals for Elmhurst while Becca Gerke came off the bench to score six. Kalia Summerlin finished with five points while Lisa Logan added four for Elmhurst. Hannah Lipman collected eight rebounds to go with two points.  
 
Aurora shot 33.3 percent (13-of-39) from the floor, but just 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from beyond the arc. Adriana Ramirez led the Spartans with eight points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Speer and Allie Reichert added five points apiece for the Spartans.
 
 Elmhurst plays at the Colorado College Tournament this weekend (November 25-26).