ELMHURST, Ill. – Mikaela Eppard scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Elmhurst women's basketball team to a 65-53 win over North Park University at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
Elmhurst upped its record to 8-7 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW with the win while North Park slid to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in league play.
 
Elmhurst jumped out to an early 10-point lead in the first quarter, opening the first eight minutes of play with a 20-10 run. North Park answered back with seven straight points to close the quarter, pulling to within three points (20-17) after one.

The Vikings continued their momentum at the start of the second quarter, scoring the first nine points to cap a 16-0 run and open up a 26-20 lead in the process. Trailing by six with just over five minutes remaining, Elmhurst answered back by closing the half on a 13-1 run to open up a 35-29 lead at the break. Both team struggled with turnovers in the opening half as the Vikings committed 13 turnovers leading to 19 Elmhurst points while the Bluejays gave the ball away 12 times, leading to 15 points for North Park. Eppard dominated the opening half for the Bluejays, scoring 14 of the team's 22 points in the paint while pumping in 19 points in the first 20 minutes.
 
Elmhurst poured it on after the break while North Park went ice cold from the floor. The Bluejays held the Vikings without a point for the first 6:30 of the third quarter. Elmhurst scored the first 16 points of the quarter to open up a commanding 22-point lead at 51-29. The Vikings broke a 10-minute scoring drought with four straight points to pull to within 18, before Elmhurst pushed its lead back to 20. North Park used an 8-2 run to close the quarter, pulling to within 14 points (54-40) after three quarters.
 
The Vikings continued to cut into Elmhurst's lead early in the fourth, scoring the first five points to pull to within nine points with 8:30 remaining and force Elmhurst to call a timeout. Four more points brought North Park to within five points and capped an 18-3 run over 6:30 between the third and fourth quarters. Back-to-back buckets from Eppard and Jasmin Bailey gave the Bluejays a nine-point cushion with 5:55 remaining. North Park cut the deficit back down to seven on a Shaylee Sloan jumper with five minutes remaining, but the Vikings came no closer as pair of layups apiece from Eppard and Lisa Logan helped the Bluejays pull away for the 12-point victory.
 
Elmhurst shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the floor in the win. Elmhurst excelled in the first (61.5 percent) and third quarter (57.1 percent) while struggling in the second (25.0 percent) and fourth (31.3 percent). The Bluejays struggled from long distance all night, hitting just 3-of-26 attempts to finish at 11.5 percent. Elmhurst made the most of North Park's mistakes, finishing with 34 points off of 22 Viking turnovers.
 
Eppard led the charge for Elmhurst with 29 points and 12 rebounds. She shot 12-of-15 from the floor while adding three steals in the win. Hannah Henderson added nine points, five assists and four steals while Logan, Bailey and Julia Madrid added eight points apiece for Elmhurst.
 
North Park shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field, including 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from long range. The Vikings struggled from the foul line as well, hitting just 52.2 percent (12-of-23) of their free throw attempts. Sloan paced North Park with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds while Clarissa Ramos totaled 10 points and Brie Lippert scored nine.
 
Elmhurst travels to Carthage College on Saturday, January 13.