AURORA, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team used a 15-2 run in the second half to pull away from Aurora University for a season-opening 67-56 victory.
 
Elmhurst led 17-14 after one quarter and carried a 29-28 lead into the locker room at halftime before pulling away late in the third quarter.
 
The Bluejays led 40-38 with four minutes left in the third quarter before starting their run. Back-to-back buckets from Kellee Clay and Kween Jean put the Bluejays up by six with a minute left to play in the third. After a pair of free throws from Aurora cut the lead down to four, Emmy Gryna drilled a corner three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to give Elmhurst a 47-40 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
Elmhurst opened the quarter on an 8-0 run, sparked by four points from Becca Gerke, to run their lead up to 15 points with six minutes left in the contest. Elmhurst pushed its lead up to 16 points and Aurora (0-1) came no closer than 11 points for the rest of the way as the Bluejays sealed the victory.
 
Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the floor, including 42.8 percent in the game's final 20 minutes (12-of-28). The Bluejays hit 4-of-14 attempts from downtown (.286) while knocking down 17-of-24 attempts (.708) from the foul line. The Bluejays' bench outscored Aurora 26-7.
 
Lisa Logan paced Elmhurst in the win, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds. Gerke came off the bench to total 13 points and six boards while shooting 5-of-10 from the field. Jean added eight points and seven rebounds in her collegiate debut. Clay added eight points while Kelly Weyhrich finished with four points and a team-best five assists and nine rebounds.
 
Aurora shot .333 from the field (15-of-45) while struggling from long distance, hitting just 2-of-14 (.143) attempts from three-point distance. Alyssa Brems paced the Spartans with 14 points while Julie Galauner added 13. Allie Reichert and Adriana Ramirez finished with nine points apiece for Aurora.
 
Elmhurst takes on Defiance College at the North Park University tournament next Friday, November 16.