ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 75-71 contest to Loras College after the Duhawks rallied from a three-point deficit over the final minute. 
 
Loras (8-4) scored the game's final seven points over the last minute of play to erase a three-point Elmhurst lead and come away with the win.
 
Elmhurst (6-6) got off to a fast start, racing out to a nine-point lead (15-6) late in the first quarter. A 5-0 run from Loras at the end of the quarter brought the Duhawks to within four. Loras started the second quarter on an 11-0 run to open up a seven-point cushion. The Duahwks built an 11-point lead with 4:28 left, but the Bluejays closed out the half with an 11-2 run to pull to within two points (34-32) at the half.

Loras pushed its lead back to eight points early in the third, but Elmhurst rallied back, taking a 50-49 lead on a Courtney O'Donnell jumper. Loras scored the final five points to carry a 54-50 lead into the fourth. The Duhawks led by six early in the fourth before Elmhurst whittled the lead down to one (68-67) with 3:44 left. A Kaela Jones three-pointer with 1:50 left gave Elmhurst a two-point cushion at 70-68. Jones added a free throw with 1:15 left to extend Elmhurst's lead to three.
 
A Cyerra Hutchins jumped brought the Duhawks to within one with just under a minute to play. After an Elmhurst miss, Addie Oberman knocked down a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to put the Duhawks up 73-71. With a chance to tie or take the lead, Elmhurst committed a turnover and Hutchins hit two free throws in the final seconds to end the contest.
 
Elmhurst shot 48.1 percent from the floor (25-of-52), including 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from downtown. Turnovers plagued Elmhurst early as the Bluejays gave the ball away 20 times, resulting in 23 points for Loras.
 
Mikaela Eppard led Elmhurst with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Eppard shot 7-of-11 from the floor while also dishing out five assists. Ones added 16 points while Lisa Logan scored 12 for Elmhurst. Jasmin Bailey came off the bench to score eight while Hannah Henderson and Kelly Weyhrich totaled seven points apiece.
 
Loras shot 48.4 percent from the floor (31-of-64) and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from downtown. The Duhawks outscored Elmhurst 48-30 in the paint.  Five players reached double figures in scoring for Loras. Hutchins led the way with 16 points while Riley Eckhart scored 12 while knocking down four three-pointers. Oberman finished with 13 points while Hanna Stokes and Marissa Schroeder scored 10 points apiece.
 
Elmhurst resumes CCIW play by traveling to Millikin University on Wednesday, January 3.