Box


Junior Savannah Morgan led three double-figure scorers with 18 points in helping the No. 17-ranked Emory women's basketball team to a Sunday afternoon win over the University of Chicago.  The Eagles raised their overall record to 12-2, 2-1 in the University Athletic Association following an 80-64 verdict over the Maroons who fell to 3-10, 0-3 in the conference. The game was played at the Woodruff PE Center on the Emory campus.

Emory concluded the game shooting 39.0 percent (32-82) from the floor and was solid from beyond the arc, draining 44.4 percent (8-of-18) of its tries.  The Maroons ended up with a 35.5 percent (22-of-62) effort from the field and hit of 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from three-point range.  UC totaled a slim 47-44 edge in rebounding, but the Eagles once again used a strong defensive stand that generated 18 steals and forced 29 Maroon turnovers, registering a big 28-12 margin in the points off turnovers category.

Mrogan scored nine points in each half and converted eight-of-14 field goal tries en route to chalking up her ninth double-digit scoring effort of the year.   Morgan also contributed three assists and topped Emory with four steals.  Junior Selena Castillo added 12 points in the win, 11 coming in the first half, while sophomore O'Dez Oraedu rounded out the trio with 10 points while also pulling down eight boards, second high on the squad.    Senior Misha Jackson spearheaded the team's showing on the glass with a game-high 11 caroms, her seventh contest of 10 or more caroms this season.

Emory held a seven-point advantage, 44-37, early in the second half before a pair of free throws by Christiane Murray, cut the Eagles' edge to two points with 17:16 remaining.   Emory put some distance between it and the upset-minded UC club with a 9-0 spurt over a two-minute span, with four players scoring during the run, to surge to an 11-point lead, 54-43.   UC drew to within nine points with 4:00 on the clock but the Eagles shut down the visitors over the next 2:31 while using a triple by Morgan followed by a bucket by Landry to assume a commanding 76-62 cushion.

The opening stanza was closely played with a total of nine ties.  The Eagles owned a 32-29 advantage with 2:39 left before an 8-2 charge, with Castillo knocking down a trey and Morgan coming through with a three-point play, to claim a 40-31 lead with 37 ticks on the clock.   UC countered with the final four points of the half that saw Emory hold a 40-35 margin heading into the intermission.

Emory returns to action next Friday (Jan. 18) when it plays at Case Western.