The Emory women's basketball team clawed back from a
19-point halftime deficit at Maryville College Sunday afternoon but
fell short in its comeback bid as the Scots held off the Eagles by
a 76-69 margin. The loss snapped a four-game Emory win streak
and dropped its overall record to 6-4 while Maryville raised its
slate to 7-4.
Emory shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field while the host
Scots turned in a 45.3 percent (24-of-53) effort. A key
factor proved to be at the charity stripe with Maryville successful
on 23-of-36 opportunities compared to Emory's 17-of-32.
Emory faced a 43-24 obstacle after the opening 20 minutes of play
as it saw Maryville drain 57.7 percent (15-of-26) of its field goal
opportunities. The Scots hit four-of-eight from three-point
range in the first half while Emory misfired on all seven of its
attempts. Emory led by a 16-15 margin with 12:45 left in the
opening stanza before Maryville closed out the half on a 28-8
run. Alexis Rouvelas of Maryville scored 12 of her game-high
20 points in the first half.
Undaunted, Emory roared back right at the outset of the second
half, rattling off 13 unanswered points to narrow the gap to 43-37
with 15:45 remaining in the game. Freshman Hannah Lilly,
sophomore Danielle Landry and senior Courtney Von Stein accounted
for all the scoring in that stretch with Von Stein picking up five
points and Lilly and Landry each totaling four points. Emory
stayed within striking distance and trailed by five points, 46-41,
with 12:50 on the clock after Becca Feldman sank a pair of free
throws. However, the Scots went on a 7-0 blitz to take a
12-point lead with 11:42 left before Emory countered with an
impressive 10-1 run, with freshman Savannah Morgan scoring five
points, to creep to 54-51 with 9:03 left. However, that was
as close as Emory would get for the remainder of the game.
The Scots built a pair of nine-point leads after that Emory surge
before a pair of charity tosses by Morgan with 1:51 remaining
enabled the Eagles to battle to within four points, 69-65.
Emory forced a Maryville turnover on its ensuing possession, but
missed a three-point attempt with 1:47 on the clock that would have
cut the margin to one point. Maryville then responded with
back-to-back baskets that effectively out the game out of
reach.
Morgan led the Eagles' scoring attack with a season-high 16
points and also doled out three assists. Sophomore Misha
Jackson contributed 13 points and topped the club with nine
rebounds. Von Stein and Hannah Lilly each finished with nine
points.
Emory returns to action on Jan. 5 when it hosts Brescia University
in a 2:00 p.m. tip.