Elmhurst Women Hold Off St. Catherine 78-67

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ELMHURST, Ill. -  Four players reached double figures in scoring to lead the Elmhurst College women's basketball team to a 78-67 victory over St. Catherine University.

Elmhurst (6-1) erased a nine-point first-half deficit and led by 11 points (38-27) at halftime. St. Catherine (1-6) charged back in the second half as the Wildcats outscored the Bluejays 27-17 for the first 12 minutes to pull to within a point. Elmhurst pushed its lead back to eight points (64-56) with 5:35 remaining, but St. Catherine used an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to tie the score at 64-64.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Meghan Merklein and Jordan Maisto put the Bluejays back on top by six points with 2:30. The Bluejays outscored the Wildcats 8-3 over the final two minutes to score the 11-point victory.

Merklein led the Bluejays with 17 points, finishing a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line. She added five rebounds and five assists in the win. Devin Vaughn totaled career highs in scoring and rebounding, recording her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She added seven assists in Elmhurst's win. Jordan Maisto added a career-high 15 points, knocking down 4-of-8 three-point attempts. Fiona McMahon came off the bench to shoot 6-of-11 and score 16 points. Megan Ney dominated on the glass, pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds in the victory.

Sarina Baker led St. Catherine by scoring a game-high 27 points while shooting 9-of-21 from the floor. Baker knocked down four three-pointers in the loss. Sarah Mong added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.

The Bluejays shot 38.2 percent (26-of-68) from the floor, but were a red-hot 50.0 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-16). St. Catherine finished the contest shooting 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the floor, including 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from downtown. The Bluejays finished the game with a 37-29 edge on the glass.

Elmhurst hosts Rockford College on Tuesday, December 13.