ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's basketball team dropped its CCIW opening contest after dropping a hard-fought 67-56 contest to 14th-ranked Wheaton College.
The game was close throughout, with no team leading by more than eight points until late free throws helped the Thunder earn the double-digit victory.
Elmhurst started strong out of the gate, building a 21-14 lead midway through the half after Kaela Jones splashed home a three-pointer from the wing. Wheaton answered back, closing the half on a 22-9 run over the final nine minutes to build a 36-30 lead at the break. Katie McDaniels helped ignite the Thunder run by scoring 10 of the team's final 12 points of the half.
Wheaton shot 66.7 percent in the game's opening 20 minutes (16-of-24) but struggled to hold onto the ball, committing 11 turnovers that Elmhurst turned into 18 points.
Elmhurst closed to within a point four times early in the second half, but the Thunder answered back every time extending their lead to eight points (53-45) with 8:55 left to play. Elmhurst sliced the lead back to three points after a pair of free throws from Mikaela Eppard with four minutes left to play. After the Thunder pushed their lead back to five a Hannah Lipman layup brought Elmhurst back to a three-point deficit with 1:58 left.
McDaniels hit a driving layup on Wheaton's next possession to push the Thunder's lead back to five. After an Elmhurst miss, the Thunder scored the game's next six points from the free throw line to come away with the 11-point victory.
Elmhurst shot 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the floor, including 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays were solid from the foul line, hitting 13-of-16 shots (81.3 percent).
Eppard paced Elmhurst with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 12 of her points in the second half. Fiona McMahon added 12 points and eight rebounds while Lipman added 11 points and five assists. Kalia Summerlin added nine points while Jones scored eight for the Bluejays.
Wheaton finished the game shooting 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the floor, after shooting just 30.0 percent (9-of-30) in the second half. The Thunder won the battle on the boards, outrebounding Elmhurst 39-34.
McDaniels was the star for the Thunder, scoring 20 points while shooting 7-of-15 from the floor. She collected six rebounds in the win. Hannah Considine added 18 points and six boards while Ellie Zeller totaled nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Elmhurst hosts Augustana College on Wednesday, January 7.