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Women's Hoops Team Falls to Millikin
Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - Despite leading for 37 minutes, the Elmhurst College women's basketball team found itself on the wrong end of a 72-67 decision to Millikin University. Despite the loss, the Bluejays still clinched a CCIW Tournament berth.
Elmhurst (11-12, 7-5 CCIW) jumped out to a 38-26 lead at halftime after shooting 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from beyond the arc.
Millikin (17-6, 9-3 CCIW) slowly began chipping away at the Bluejays' lead in the second half. The Big Blue pulled to within two with nine minutes remaining, but five straight points by Elmhurst pushed the lead back to seven with 7:30 to play. An 11-4 run by the Big Blue knotted the score at 61-all with 3:30 remaining.
After the two teams traded buckets, Millikin's Megan Mateer connected on a 3-pointer to give the Big Blue a 66-63 lead. Millikin pushed its lead to five points with 1:39 to play, but Elmhurst made one last push. Back-to-back layups by Candice Sutton (Matteson/Rich South) cut the deficit to one with just 36 seconds to play. Millikin's Kelly Steers gave the Big Blue a 70-67 lead with a jumper with 18 seconds left on the clock. Elmhurst turned the ball over on its next possession, leading to a pair of free throws by Steers.
Elmhurst finished the game shooting 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the floor and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from beyond the arc.
Millikin shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the field and 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from beyond the arc. The Big Blue shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) in the second-half.
Lyndsie Long (Sugar Grove/Kaneland) led Elmhurst with 20 points in the loss. Candice Sutton (Matteson/Rich South) finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She added seven assists in the defeat. Brittany Bobruk (Darien/Downers Grove South) added 25 points while Kelsey Monroe (West Chicago/H.S.) added eight.
Millikin was led by Lindsay Ippel's 34 points and eight rebounds. Ippel shot 12-of-19 from the floor, including 9-of-11 in the second half when she scored 24 points. Steers added 15 points in the win.
Despit the loss, the Bluejays secured a spot in the CCIW Tournament when Illinois Wesleyan University defeated North Central College in Bloomington. The win by the Titans guarantees Elmhurst its first spot in the conference tournament in three years.
Elmhurst plays at Illinois Wesleyan on Tuesday, February 19.
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