The contest featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes.
The Bluejays held a lead with under a minute to play in the first half and in the first overtime but Millikin was able to knot the score each time.
With the score tied at 40 with under a minute to play, Juanita Pruitt nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bluejays a 43-40 lead with 30 seconds to play. Millikin's Joanna Conner evened the game with a trey of her own with nine ticks left on the clock.
In the first extra period, Millikin grabbed a 48-47 lead with 1:05 to play on a free throw from Connor. Elmhurst answered back as Ashley Stein buried a 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to put Elmhurst up by two. Millikin's Andrea Riebock knocked down the game-tying jumper with 38 seconds to play, seconding the game to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, A Lindsay Ippel layup with 30 seconds to play put Millikin up 56-54. Heather Furr had an open look from downtown, but the ball rolled in and out of the bucket with Millikin clearing the board. The Big Blue sank three free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Elmhurst finished the game shooting 30.7 percent from the floor (23-of-75) and 31.8 percent from downtown (7-of-22).
Millikin shot 29.5 percent from the floor (18-of-61) and only 20 percent (3-of-15) from beyond the arc.
Elmhurst had a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding Millikin 50-47.
Millikin scored over a third of its points from the free throw line, converting 20 of the 30 attempts (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe. Conversely, Elmhurst went to the free throw line just three times in the game, hitting one attempt. The Bluejays were whistled for 21 fouls while Millikin was called for eight. After halftime, Millikin went to the foul line 22 times, hitting 15 attempts. Elmhurst went to the foul line only once in the game's final 30 minutes.
Stein led all scorers with 14 points, finishing with a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. Candice Sutton also tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Aja Terrier finished with 10 points while Furr totaled nine points and 12 rebounds.
Ippel led the Big Blue with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Lindsey Koehn added 10 points and six boards. Conner totaled nine points and 13 rebounds. Laura Zimmerman and Riebock each finished with eight points.
The Bluejays travel to Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday, February 4, for a 5:15 p.m. contest.