DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Elmhurst women's basketball team's fourth quarter rally came up short in a 79-72 loss at Loras College.
 
Elmhurst trailed by as many as 17 points with 5:35 remaining and the Bluejays faced a 13-point deficit with just four minutes left to play. The Bluejays mounted a furious rally, ripping off a 12-3 run over the next 90 seconds to close to within four points with just over 2:30 remaining in the game. Loras pushed its lead back to seven points with 1:29 remaining, but a Kaela Jones three-pointer brought Elmhurst back to within four points with 1:12 left on the clock. The Bluejays' defense forced a missed jumper, but Lori Obendorf came up with an offensive rebound in traffic and was fouled with 44 ticks left on the clock. Obendorf hit both free throws to push the lead back to six points (76-70).
 
Elmhurst cut the lead back down to four points for the third time on a Hannah Henderson layup, but Loras hit 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to put the game away.
 
Elmhurst shot just 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the floor, including 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three-point distance. The Bluejays were solid from the free throw line, hitting 22-of-24 attempts (91.7 percent).

Mikaela Eppard paced Elmhurst in the loss with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds while also reaching a personal milestone. With her ninth point of the contest, Eppard eclipsed 1,000 points for her career, becoming just the 11th Bluejay to join the 1,000-point club. Hannah Lipman chipped in with 15 points while Michaela Kumer came off the bench to score 12. Jones totaled 10 points in the loss.
 
Loras (5-5) shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the floor and concentrated its efforts inside, outscoring Elmhurst 46-24 in the paint and owning a 35-28 edge in rebounding. Terese McMahon led the way for the Duhawks with a game-high 25 points, shooting 10-of-18 from the field. Obendorf added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Addie Oberman came off the bench to total 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
Elmhurst (8-3) is of unti December 31 when the Bluejays travel to Beloit for a 2:00 p.m. contest.