Elgin Community College handles Harper

Elgin Community College traveled to the Harper College Sports and Wellness Center in Palatine on Tuesday night as the Hawks looked to get off to a fast start in their home debut in women's basketball.

Instead it was Spartans freshman guard Cassie Dumoulin (Hampshire) who stole the show with a game-high 30 points in Elgin's 63-49 win.

After being plagued with foul trouble for most of the game, Harper sophomore guard Anna Kirchoff came alive down the stretch and finished with a team-high 17 points to go with 7 rebounds. Sarah Kellermeyer finished with 9 points on 3-of-14 shooting for Harper (1-1).

Elgin shot 19-for-29 from the free throw line while Harper was limited to 5-of-10 shooting at the foul line.

South Elgin graduates DiJon Smith and Keleigh Irwin dominated the Hawks on the glass, combining to score 23 points, most of them the result of offensive rebounds.

After a Spartan 7-0 run to end the first half left Harper trailing 27-23, the Spartans extended the run that they'd started. Spanning two periods, the 16-0 spurt put Elgin firmly in command at 37-23.

“I wanted us, not them, to go on a run (to start the second half),” said third-year Harper coach Mark Smith.

Elgin saw its lead grow to as much as 18 points at one point near the middle of the second half.

Harper committed 26 turnovers and played without sophomore Betsy Bailey (Palatine), who is recovering from a knee injury suffered late last season.

Larisa Aguero had a team-best 9 rebounds and 3 steals for the Hawks.