Box Score Box
Senior Misha Jackson scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while classmate Danielle Landry totaled 15 points and 10 boards in leading the No. 18 Emory women's basketball team to a victory over Piedmont College on Saturday. The Eagles raised their overall record to 9-1 following a 70-56 decision over the Lions who slipped to 4-4.
Jackson recorded 14 points over the final 20 minutes of play and ended the contest sinking nine-of-13 from the floor and both of her free throw attempts. It was Jackson's sixth career outing of 20 or more points. Landry ended the afternoon converting six-of-12 of her field goal tries en route to her seventh double-figure scoring effort of the campaign. Junior Hannah Lilly rounded out the Eagles' double-digit scorers with 11 points while snatching a career-best tying seven rebounds.
For the game, Emory hit 38 percent (30-of-79) from the field compared to Piedmont's effort of 34.4 percent (22-of-64), the seventh time this year the Eagles had held an opponent to less than 40 percent. While neither team shot particularly well from three-point range, with Emory checking in at 16.7 percent (3-of-18) and Piedmont at 30.4 percent (7-of-23), the Eagles enjoyed a decided 53-42 edge in rebounding, 22-11 on the offensive end that parlayed into a 14-4 edge in second-chance points. Sophomore O'Dez Oraedu was the third member of the team to come through with a double-figure performance on the glass with her 10 rebounds her second-highest career showing.
Emory led for the majority of the early stages in the opening half and held a 17-11 advantage with 13:47 left in the stanza following a bucket by Lilly. However, the Lions fought back with a 15-6 charge, capped by a three-point field goal by Mary Kate Rushton, that gave the visitors a 26-23 edge with 5:58 left. The Eagles then held Piedmont scoreless for the remainder of the half, going a 9-0 charge that saw Landry score four points and junior Selena Castillo add a triple, giving them a 32-26 lead at the intermission.
Emory pushed its margin to 43-31 early in the second half following an 11-2 run, keyed by four points by Jackson and a trey from Morgan. Piedmont drew to within seven points with 14:23 left on the clock, but the Eagles would build its lead back to 13 points at 58-45 with 6:46 remaining after a basket by Jackson. The Lions countered with a 9-0 run over a 58-second span on the strength of three three-point field goals to creep back to within a 58-54 score, but that was as close as they would get as the Emory defense clamped down on the comeback, holding Piedmont scoreless over a 3:36 span while scoring six unanswered points to take a 64-54 lead with 1:41 remaining.
Emory, 7-0 at home this season, returns to action on Monday (Dec. 31) when it entertains Huntingdon College in a 2:00 pm start.
NOTES: Jackson's performance represented her fifth double-double of the season and 14th of her career … Landry manufactured her second double-double of the year and third of her career … Emory's 19 steals marked the squad's ninth outing of 10 or more thefts and tied the program's 13th-highest single-game mark … Lilly's 11 points stretched her double-figure scoring streak to 15 games … Lilly also has three-point field goals to her credit in her last 15 contests … Junior Selena Castillo's three steals was her eighth game of multiple thefts … Freshman Khadijah Sayyid finished with three steals, her eighth straight performance of two or more thefts … Emory has finished with an advantage in second-chance points in nine games this season and shows a 14.8-7.1 per-game bulge in that department … Emory's 22 offensive rebounds was the fourth time this year that it finished with 20 or caroms on that end of the floor.
