Box Score The sophomore tandem of Hannah Lilly and Savannah Morgan combined for 37 points and the Emory women's basketball team set a school record for most three-point field goals in a game on Sunday as the Eagles defeated Brandeis University in University Athletic Association action. Emory boosted its record to 11-3 overall (2-1 UAA) following the 70-40 verdict over the Judges who fell to 7-7 overall, 0-3 in the league.
Lilly led all players with 23 points, 18 coming in the first half, while Morgan finished with 14 points and six assists in keying the victory. Lilly hit eight-of-16 from the floor and five-of-12 from beyond the arc in extending her streak of sinking at least one triple to 19 games. Senior Emily Hyncik came off the bench and rounded out the club's double-figure scorers with 12 points on the strength of four-of-six shooting from three-point range. Emory finished the afternoon hitting 35.8 percent (24-of-67) from the field that included a 38.2 percent (13-of-34) effort from beyond the arc. The Eagles' 13 triples established a school mark for most three pointers in a game, surpassing the previous record of 12 set against New York University on Feb. 1, 2008. Brandeis was successful on just 26 percent (13-of-50) of its field goal attempts and converted just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from distance. Emory registered a 43-41 edge in rebounding with senior Melissa Koike and junior Danielle Landry sharing for team honors with seven boards apiece. Emory's defense came up with 12 steals and forced 28 Brandeis turnovers in racking up a 26-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
After trailing by a five-point margin, 20-15, with 13:41 left in the first half, the Eagles began taking control of the stanza with a 10-0 run, with Lilly scoring eight points in that stretch, to take a 25-20 lead with 8:17 on the clock. After a pair of charity tosses by BU's Hannah Cain cut the Eagles' edge to three, a trey by senior Emily Hyncik followed by a basket by Misha Jackson extended Emory's margin to 30-22 with 5:25 left. Emory would eventually go into halftime with a 35-27 cushion. Lilly provided the bulk of the Eagles' scoring attack, ringing up 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the floor including four-of-five from three-point range. Other than Lilly, the teams combined struggled to find the mark from the field with Brandeis converting just 29 percent (8-of-28) while Emory checked in at 34 percent (12-of-35).
After the Judges got to within five points at the start of the second half following a three pointer by Diana Cincotta, Emory blew the game wide open with a 20-2 run over a 7:45 span that extended its lead to 55-32 with 11:02 remaining. Morgan totaled nine points in that stretch and hit a pair of treys while Lilly accounted for five points including a triple. Senior Melissa Koike also added a three-pointer in the blitz with Landry accounting for three points as well. Hyncik scored eight points over a 3:35 span with her bucket with 2:15 left giving Emory its biggest lead of the game at 70-39. Emory outpointed the Judges by a 35-13 margin during the final 20 minutes of action.
The win was Christy Thomaskutty's 100th career win as Emory coach and allowed the team to post its first 11-3 record after 14 games since the 1995-96 season.
Emory returns to action on Friday (Jan. 20) when it hosts Carnegie Mellon in a 6:00 p.m. start.
