DECATUR, Illinois – Earlham College women's basketball and Aurora University were virtually neck-and-neck for 40 minutes before the Spartans topped the Quakers, 69-65, in Saturday's consolation game of the Millikin University Tournament at the Griswold P.E. Center.

Junior Kayla Bowling was Earlham's representative on the All-Tournament Team after leading the Quakers with a season-high 17 points in Saturday's contest, and averaging 16.0 points while shooting .433 (13-of-30) from the floor with five 3-pointers while averaging 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals over the course of the tournament.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Aurora 69, Earlham 65
Location: Decatur, Illinois – Griswold Center
Records: Earlham 2-7 / Aurora 6-2

THE SHORT STORY

Earlham and Aurora exchanged the lead seven times and were tied nine times over the course of the contest, with the Spartans taking the widest lead for either team at seven points, 44-37, at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter. Back-to-back buckets and a foul shot by senior Amy Weisner reeled the Spartans back in and cut the margin to two points, 44-42. Later in the frame, the Quakers eventually took a 49-47 lead on a pair of Cambie Poole foul shots, but a pair of Aurora free throws and a conventional three-point play by the Spartans' Julie Galauner left Earlham trailing 52-50 heading into the final quarter.

The Quakers again took a two-point lead, 54-52, in the fourth quarter on a layup and "plus one" from Poole with 9:10 remaining, and the game was still tied at 57-57 at the 6:47 mark following a Bowling 3-pointer.

Aurora took the lead on a pair of Galauner free throws with 5:59 to play and held its advantage the rest of the way. Earlham cut the deficit to two points on three separate occasions over the final five minutes – each time on a bucket by Bowling – but the Quakers were unable to find the go-ahead points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Earlham turned in one of its most balanced performances of the season statistically, with several players hitting season highs in scoring and rebounding.

Bowling's 17-point performance, her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season, came on a 7-of-17 shooting effort with a season-best three 3-pointers.

Senior Zoe Curtis charted a season-best 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and hauled down six rebounds.

Senior Camryn White charted six points with a team-high nine rebounds, five of which came at the offensive end, to go with three assists and a steal. She finished the game with a team-leading +9 for the Quakers.

Poole finished with season-high totals of nine points and eight rebounds, while first-year teammate Trinity McClendon matched her season-best with five boards to go with eight points.

Earlham shot .391 (25-of-64) from the floor, while defensively holding Aurora to a .414 field goal percentage.

The Quakers dominated on the boards, 47-34, and Earlham's 15 offensive rebounds were the most in its last five contests. The Maroon and White committed just 17 turnovers, second-fewest this season.

Aurora was led by Gaulaner with a season-high 32 points; she was the only Spartan player in double figures.

WHAT'S NEXT

Earlham women's basketball returns to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference loop for its next contest on Monday, Dec. 30, when the Quakers travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to face Transylvania University. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.