Elmhurst Suffers First Loss After Falling to UW-Stevens Point

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ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season after falling to 11th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 65-48.

Elmhurst (4-1) battled with the UW-Stevens Point (5-0) for the entire first half as the Bluejays grabbed an 18-13 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. The Pointers battled back though, closing the half on a 17-7 run to grab a 30-25 lead at the half.

UW-Stevens Point slowly pulled away in the second half, pushing its lead to 13 points (44-31) with 12:26 to play. Elmhurst managed to slice the lead down to nine points, but a 10-2 run by the Pointers gave UW-Stevens Point its biggest lead of the night at 56-39 with just under seven minutes to play. Elmhurst managed to get the lead down to 13 points but came no closer, falling by a final of 65-48.

Fiona McMahon turned in a strong performance for the Bluejays in the paint, scoring a game-high 16 points while shooting 6-of-9 from the floor. McMahon added six rebounds and scored 11 of her 16 points in the opening half. Megan Ney added 11 points ans a game-high seven rebounds in the loss. The Bluejays' leading scorer, Meghan Merklein, was held to only 10 points, with eight coming from the free throw line.

Sam Barber paced the Pointers in the win, totaling 14 points and five rebounds. Cassie Bandow and Myranda Tyler chipped in with 11 points apiece.

Elmhurst shot 35.4 percent (17-of-48) from the floor, but struggled from the outside, shooting just 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from downtown. Elmhurst scored 26 of its 48 points from inside the lane.

UW-Stevens Point finished the game shooting 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor, including 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from beyond the arc.

Elmhurst travels to Webster University on Saturday, December 3.