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Emory sophomore Becca Feldman scored a team-high 15 points and the Eagles turned in another solid defensive effort on Tuesday afternoon as it picked up a win at home against Birmingham Southern College.  Emory raised its overall record to 5-4 following a 63-56 triumph over the Panthers who slipped to 6-3.

Emory connected on 43.1 percent of its field goal attempts (22-of-51) and held BSC to 36.7 percent (18-of-49) from the floor.  Emory, which limited the Panthers to 25 points under their scoring average heading into the game, forced 29 turnovers and converted those miscues in 25 points.  Emory also finished the contest with a 37-32 edge in rebounding and was paced in that department by senior Keenan Whitesides who grabbed a game-high 11 boards, her third double-figure effort of the year in that department.

Holding an 11-9 edge with 13:29 left in the first half, Emory held BSC scoreless for nearly eight minutes and rattled off an 18-0 scoring run that gave it a 29-9 lead with 5:31 left in the stanza.  Feldman scored six points in the onslaught while freshman Lindsay Beers scored all five of her points in that stretch.  Shooting 50 percent from the floor (13-of-26) during the opening 20 minutes of play, and sparked by 10 points from Feldman and seven from senior Whitney Martin, the Eagles held a 31-14 lead at intermission. The Eagles used an aggressive and swarming defense in the first half and totaled 12 steals while forcing BSC into 21 turnovers and 20.8 percent shooting (5-of-24) from the floor.

A bucket by Feldman and a free throw by Martin pushed Emory's advantage back to 20 points during the early stages of the second stanza but five straight points by Alex Adams capped a 9-0 flurry that cut Emory's margin to 11 points.  Emory still commanded an 11-point cushion, 40-29, with 14:00 on the clock, but BSC roared back with an 11-0 charge to tie the affair, 40-40, with 8:39 remaining. 

Despite BSC's run, Emory never surrendered the lead.  Holding a 47-45 lead with 5:28 left, sophomore Sally Peterson buried a three-point shot that gave the Eagles some breathing room at 50-45 with 4:36 remaining.  After a basket by Adams, cut the gap to three points, a pair of charity tosses by Peterson followed by a three-point play by Feldman boosted Emory's advantage to 55-47 with 3:07 on the clock.  BSC would draw to within five points with 2:13 left but Emory went five-of-five from the foul line over the remainder of the game to seal the win.

Martin posted 13 points in the winning effort while Peterson rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with 10 points.  BSC's Alex Adams led all players with 18 points.

Emory returns to action on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 31) when it plays at Piedmont College in a 2:00 p.m. start.