ELMHURST, Ill. –  The Elmhurst women's basketball team came up short in the finals seconds of a 77-72 loss to Carthage College at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Bluejays surged back in front in the fourth quarter, but Carthage outscored Elmhurst 8-3 over the final 90 seconds to earn the victory. Elmhurst slid to 12-11 overall and 8-6 in the CCIW while Carthage upped its record to 16-6 overall and 9-4 in league play.
 
Elmhurst came out strong in the opening quarter racing out to a 12-3 lead after three-pointers from Jasmin Bailey, Kaela Jones and Lisa Logan and a three-point play from Mikaela Eppard. Carthage fought back quickly, pulling event at 15-15 before Elmhurst reestablished a five-point lead following a Julia Madrid layup. Carthage cut Elmhurst's lead down to two points (24-22) after two quarters. Eppard pumped in nine quick points on a trio of three-point plays before foul trouble forced her to the bench late the opening quarter.
 
Carthage went in front early in the second quarter and slowly built a four-point cushion (34-30) midway through the quarter. Elmhurst pulled to within one after a Courtney O'Donnell layup, but Carthage rattled off seven straight points to open up a 45-37 lead with 1:10 remaining. A Lisa Logan layup brought Elmhurst to within six, but a free throw from Morgan Harris gave Carthage a 46-39 lead at the half.
 
Carthage pushed its lead up to 12 points early in the third quarter before Elmhurst surged back. Trailing by 12 with eight minutes left, the Bluejays closed the quarter on a 16-6 run to pull to within two points (59-57) after three quarters.
 
Elmhurst reclaimed the lead on a Kelly Weyhrich jumper with 5:35 left to play. Carthage answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Madie Kaelber and Autumn Kalis, giving the Lady Reds a 67-62 lead with 4:33 remaining. Elmhurst pulled even with 1:42 left after a jumper from Jones, but Carthage reclaimed the lead on a jumper from Morgan Vukovich knocked down a jumper in the paint with 1:09 left to part Carthage back in front.
 
Elmhurst cut the deficit in half with a free throw with 52 seconds remaining, but Vukovich knocked down another short-range jumper in the lane to put Carthage up by three with 33 seconds left. A layup from Eppard brought Elmhurst to within one with 18 seconds left, but Carthage hit two free throws to extend their lead to three with just 10 seconds remaining. Elmhurst's game-tying three-point attempt was no good and Carthage grabbed the rebound. Morgan Harris hit two free throws to put the game away for Carthage.
 
Eppard led Elmhurst in the loss with a game-high 22 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the foul line. She added eight rebounds in the loss to move her career total to 999. Jones finished with 17 points and five rebounds while Logan totaled 11 points and seven rebounds. Weyhrich and Courtney O'Donnell added six points apiece for the Bluejays.
 
Elmhurst finished the game shooting 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the floor, but just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from three-point range. After hitting their first three attempts from downtown, the Bluejays hit just 4-of-26 the rest of the way.
 
Carthage shot an even 50.0 percent (27-of-54) from the floor in the victory, including 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from three-point distance. Kaelber led the way for Carthage with 21 points, shooting 9-of-18 from the field. Vukovich came off the bench to score 17 while Autumn Kalis and Harris finished with 12 points apiece for Carthage.
 
Elmhurst plays at North Park University on Wednesday, February 14.