ELMHURST, Ill. –  The Elmhurst women's basketball team opened the CCIW portion of its 2018-19 schedule with an 81-61 loss to 13th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University.
 
Illinois Wesleyan (7-2, 1-0 CCIW) scored the first five points of the contest and never trailed for the duration of the game. The Titans led by as many as seven points in the first quarter before a layup from Queen Jean and a three-pointer from Lauren Goff brought the Bluejays to within two points with 1:21 left to play. A pair of free throws gave IWU a 17-13 lead after one quarter.
 
Elmhurst (3-4, 0-1 CCIW) cut the deficit down to two early in the second quarter on a Kellee Clay layup, but the Titans scored the next nine points to open up an 11-point lead at 26-15. Back-to-back three-pointers from Sophia Lathe and Zori Miller pulled Elmhurst to within five with five minutes left in the half. The Titans pushed their lead back to nine points twice in the final four minutes, but Lathe drilled two more three-pointers to keep Elmhurst close. The Bluejays trailed by just five after a Courtney O'Donnell layup with a minute left, but Ashley Schneider's bucket with 40 seconds left gave the Titans a 38-31 lead at the half.
 
Elmhurst twice closed to within three points early in the third quarter before Illinois Wesleyan pulled away in the second half. Leading by four (44-40) with 4:43 left to play in the third, the Titans scored the next 11 points to open up a commanding 55-40 lead. IWU carried a 65-47 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Titans continued to pull away in the fourth, leading by as many as 26 points before cruising to the 20-point win.
 
Elmhurst finished the game shooting 38.7 percent (25-of-62) from the floor, including 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from three-point distance. The Titans hit 51.7 percent (31-of-60) of their shots, including 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from beyond the arc. Elmhurst committed 18 turnovers, resulting in 23 points for Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans also outscored Elmhurst in the paint 42-30.
 
A pair of freshman led Elmhurst in the loss. Lathe finished with a team-best 12 points, connecting on 4-of-6 attempts from three-point distance. Kween Jean added 10 points while shooting 5-of-7 from the floor. Clay, Courtney O'Donnell and Julia Madrid scored six points apiece for the Bluejays. Lisa Logan led the squad in rebounds with six.
 
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Titans. Kendall Sosa came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points. Maddie Merritt added 17 points while Raven Hughes and Sydney Shanks totaled 11 points apiece. Ashley Schneider finished with 10 points for IWU.
 
Elmhurst plays at Carthage College on Saturday, December 8.