CHICAGO, Ill. - The Elmhurst women's basketball team hung right with eighth-ranked Wartburg College for over three quarters before falling 67-59 at the North Park University Tournament. 

Elmhurst (1-2) built a 12-7 lead after the opening quarter as Wartburg (2-0) struggled with its shooting, hitting just 3-of-13 attempts in the opening quarter. Wartburg turned the tables in the second quarter, outscoring the Bluejays 22-9 while building an eight-point cushion (29-21) at the half. 

The Bluejays quickly answered back in the third, cutting the Knights' lead down to two points with 6:24 left. Wartburg pushed its lead back to nine points (44-35) with two minutes remaining, but three-pointers from Kaela Jones and Hannah Henderson brought Elmhurst to within three points after three quarters. 

Elmhurst sliced the deficit down to two points with seven minutes left following a three-pointer from Kelly Weyhrich, but Wartburg rattled off nine straight points over the next three minutes to push its lead to 57-46 with just four minutes left on the clock. Elmhurst chipped the lead down to six points with 17 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws helped Wartburg put the game away. 

Elmhurst shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, including 27.3 percent (6-of-23) from three-point distance. Wartburg shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor and only 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from long range. The Knights won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Bluejays 40-31. Wartburg also went to the free throw line 22 times, hitting 17 (77.3 percent) while Elmhurst attempted only seven free throws for the contest. 

Jones paced Elmhurst in the loss with 15 points and four rebounds. Mikaela Eppard added 12 points and five rebounds while Henderson also reached double figures, totaling 10 points, eight assists and five board. Lisa Logan came off the bench to score eight for the Bluejays. 

Katie Sommer led Wartburg with 16 points, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Miranda Murphy added 14 points while Emma Gerdes scored eight. 

Elmhurst takes on Illinois College on Sunday, November 26, at the North Park Invitational.