DECATUR, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team upped its CCIW record to 3-1 on the season by scoring a 69-64 road win at Millikin University.
 
The back-and-forth affair featured 16 lead changes and two ties before Elmhurst (7-6, 3-1 CCIW) seized control in the fourth quarter.
 
The score was even at 13-13 after one quarter before Millikin (5-8, 0-4 CCIW) grabbed a 32-29 lead at the half. Millikin led by as many as five points early in the third quarter before Elmhurst used a 6-0 run on three straight Mikaela Eppard buckets to go in front 37-36. The Big Blue quickly went back in front and pushed their lead back to five following a Devin Curry three-pointer with just over a minute remaining in the third. The Big Blue led by three (52-49) entering the fourth quarter.
 
Elmhurst scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to open up a 57-52 lead midway through the quarter. Millikin closed to within two points with just 39 seconds left, but Elmhurst hit four straight free throws to push their lead to six points with 30 seconds left. Millikin cut the deficit back down to three with seven seconds left, but Lisa Logan knocked down to free throws with four seconds remaining to seal the win for Elmhurst.
 
Elmhurst shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the floor while overcoming an 11.1 percentage (2-of-18) from three-point range. The Bluejays controlled the action in the paint, outscoring Millikin 40-26 and outrebounding the Big Blue 35-26. Elmhurst turned 17 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
 
Eppard pumped in 21 points to pace Elmhurst in the win. She shot 8-of-10 from the floor while adding six rebounds for the Bluejays. Hannah Henderson added 15 points for Elmhurst while Kelly Weyhrich scored seven. Kaela Jones, Jasmin Bailey and Logan added six points apiece for Elmhurst.
 
Millikin shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the floor in the loss. Yanni Sadler paced the Big Blue with 22 points, shooting 10-of-15 from the field. Emily Schultz (15 points), Curry (14 points) and Jordan Hildebrand (10 points) all reached double figures in scoring for Millikin.
 
Elmhurst continues CCIW play on Saturday, January 6, by traveling to Illinois Wesleyan University.