Box
The Emory women's basketball team closed out the 2009-10
season this afternoon, rallying from a pair of significant
double-figure deficits before falling at the University of
Rochester. The Eagles saw their record fall to 10-15 overall,
3-11 in the University Athletic Association after dropping a 67-62
decision to the Yellowjackets who saw their record go to 19-6 in
overall play, 9-5 in the conference.
Emory senior Whitney Martin and sophomore Melissa Koike tied for
game-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece with Martin picking
off a team-high five boards. Sophomore Becca Feldman rounded
out the team's double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Rochester shot 38.2 percent from the field (21-of-55) while Emory
finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58). Both squads shot well
from the charity stripe with Emory knocking down 21-of-24 attempts
while UR was successful on 22-of-28 tries.
Emory scored the first basket of the game but went the next eight
minutes without a field as Rochester took what seemed to be a
commanding 21-4 lead with 11:08 left in the opening stanza.
The Eagles then stunned the home Rochester crowd with its own 23-4
blitz, keyed by nine points from Martin, to take a 27-25 lead at
halftime. Over the last 10:53 of the first half, Emory forced
six Rochester turnovers while the Yellowjackets converted just
one-of-12 from the floor in that stretch.
After Emory scored the first basket of the second half, Rochester
fought back to tie the contest at 30-30 following a three pointer
by Melissa Alwardt. Emory trailed by just two points, 35-33,
after Koike made one-of-two foul shots, but a 12-1 Rochester run
gave the home club a 47-34 bulge with 10:54 left. Just as in
the first half, the Eagles battled back, holding Rochester
scoreless for three minutes while registering eight unanswered
points to creep to within five points, 47-42, with 7:42
remaining. The Yellowjackets held a 51-44 advantage before
Emory surged ahead, 54-53, with 4:08 left after a 9-0 scoring
run. A pair of free throws by Feldman knotted the slugfest at
55-55 with just 2:09 on the clock, before seven straight points by
UR gave it a seven-point margin, 62-55, with 49 ticks on the
clock.
Jodie Luther led Rochester with 11 points while Alwardt
notched 10 points along with a game-high nine rebounds.
