Chicago, Ill. - Illinois Tech women's basketball came into their game against non-conference opponent Westminster College (Mo.) Thursday night with a chance to extend their season-best winning streak to four games. After a close first half however, the visiting Blue Jays pulled away in the second half for a 77-60 victory at the Keating Center. The Scarlet Hawks winning streak was snapped at three games, dropping to 4-6 overall on the season. The Blue Jays improved to 5-4 overall.

Junior forward Chloe Churilla continued her strong play on the season for the Scarlet Hawks, leading the team with 18 points and 9 rebounds. For the season, Churilla has been the Hawks leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 12 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. Junior guard Camden Joko had her best scoring game of the season, tallying 14 points while connecting on 4-7 from three-point range. Joko is averaging 10.33 points per game over her last three games, providing the team with much-needed three-point shooting to stretch out opposing defenses.

The Scarlet Hawks started the game strong, jumping out to a 12-4 lead on the visitors with 6:51 to go in the opening quarter. During that run, Churilla had a pair of layups, Julia Bucci connected on a three-pointer, while Berit Rusing and Grace Goodnough added solo baskets. The Blue Jays would counter with a 12-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 16-14 lead. The teams would play even the rest of the first quarter, with Westminster holding a 25-23 lead. The Blue Jays would open up a pair of nine-point leads during the second quarter, including at the 1:21 mark remaining. But baskets by Halle Williams and Joko in the final minute cut the Hawks' deficit to just five points at the halftime break. In the second half, Westminster would extend their lead to ten points. A Joko three-pointer for the Hawks with 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter cut the Blue Jays lead to 64-58. Westminster would recover, however, and closed out the game on a 13-2 run for their final margin of victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Chloe Churilla led the Scarlet Hawks with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while adding 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block
• Camden Joko scored 14 points, connecting on 4-7 three-pointers, while adding 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal
• Kaya Jones with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block
• Grace Goodnough with 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 points

Inside The Box Score

• Aly Bullock led the Blue Jays with an all-around performance, earning a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while adding 3 steals and 4 blocks
• The Blue Jays had 5 players scoring in double-figures, with Bullock, Olivia Hixson, Lauren Jones and Annette Ramirez each scoring 11 points, while Caragan Lockard led Westminster with 14 points
• Westminster held a 25-10 advantage in bench scoring
• The Blue Jays shot 50.8% from the field; the Scarlet Hawks shot 39.1%

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will take a pause in their schedule as they enjoy the holiday break. Illinois Tech will be back in action on Saturday, January 4th, when they host Concordia University Chicago at 1:00pm at the Keating Center in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup.