Box Score Junior Misha Jackson's layup with 54 seconds left snapped a 51-51 tie and lifted the Emory women's basketball team to a hard-fought victory over Maryville College Monday evening. The Eagles upped their overall record to 9-3 following a 56-53 decision over the Scots who slipped to 5-5.
Jackson's bucket helped stem the tide of a 7-0 Maryville run that saw the Scots battle from a seven-point deficit with 3:53 remaining to knot the score at 51-51 with 1:11 on the clock following a basket by Keira Payne. After Jackson's crucial basket, Emory extended its lead to four points with 21 ticks left following a pair of free throws by sophomore Savannah Morgan. MC's Tara Heyboyer sliced Emory's advantage in half following a pair of makes from the charity stripe with 12 seconds left before the Eagles' Becca Feldman sank the front end of a one-and-one to give Emory a three-point edge with 11 seconds remaining. After misfiring on the second attempt, Jackson came up with her game-high 13th rebound on the night that led to Emory attempting a pair from the stripe. When Emory could not convert on either try, the Scots had a chance to tie the game, but Emory senior Melissa Koike came up with a steal in the waning moments to secure the win for the Eagles.
Jackson ended the evening with a team-high 13 points with her 13 boards tying a career-high and giving the Atlanta native her third double-double of the campaign. Morgan, along with classmate Hannah Lilly, each totaled a dozen points with Morgan accounting for all her total during the second half of play. She also recorded three steals. Lilly's 12 points extended her double-figure scoring streak to 15 games while her three-point field goal in the first half extended her streak to 17 contests with at least one trey.
Emory trailed for just about all of the first half and fell behind by nine points on three occasions, the latest a 22-13 obstacle with 10:52 left in the stanza. Five different players scored for the Eagles in a subsequent 10-2 spurt that saw them cut the gap to one point with 5:21 left following a jumper by sophomore Selena Castillo. A three-point play by Jackson with 2:27 let Emory creep back to within one point before the Scots would eventually take a 30-26 edge at halftime.
Emory held Maryville to just three points during the opening 7:31 of the second half in taking a 37-33 lead. After MC rallied back to claim a 40-39 advantage, Morgan scored all of the Eagles' points in an 8-2 surge that enabled them to post a five-point lead with 7:20 left in the game. A layup by Lilly with 3:53 on the clock then gave Emory its largest lead of the evening, 51-44.
Maryville outshot the Eagles from the floor, hitting 34.0 percent (17-of-50) of its opportunities compared to the Emory's mark of 31.1 percent (19-of-61). Emory did win the battle on the glass by a 44-37 margin with Koike grabbing a career-best nine rebounds while Feldman picked off a career-high tying seven caroms.
Emory returns to action on Friday (Jan. 13) when it plays New York University in a 6:00 p.m. start.
