Junior Khadijah Sayyid and sophomore Shellie Kaniut both turned in career contests, and the Emory women's basketball squad used a strong second-half showing in coming away with a season-opening win at LaGrange College Saturday evening.  The Eagles raised the program's all-time mark to 18-9 in season openers with a 65-39 verdict over the Panthers.

Sayyid and Kaniut fueled the Emory offense with Sayyid racking up a personal-best 24 points and Kaniut establishing a career high with 23 points.  The duo combined to connect on 17-of-24 from the field including eight-of-12 from three-point range.  It marked the first time in their careers that they reached the 20-point plateau in a game. 

Holding a 29-27 advantage early in the second half,  Emory blew the game wide open with a 16-0 blitz over a 6:18 stretch, with seven points coming from Kaniut, to take a 45-27 lead with 12:40 left in the contest.  The Panthers finally brought their drought with a bucket but a three pointer by Sayyid, followed by a basket by Kaniut, gave the Eagles a 50-29 bulge.  From the point, the closest that LC would get would be 19 points.

After shooting 36 percent (9-of-25) from the floor during the opening half of play, the Eagles converted 55.2 percent of their field goal attempts (16-of-29) over the final 20 minutes while limiting the Panthers to just 21.7 percent (5-of-23).   Emory outpointed LaGrange by a 38-16 count in the second stanza with Kaniut and Sayyid scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively.

With Sayyid and junior Ilene Tsao grabbing eight rebounds each, Emory held a healthy 47-30 margin on the glass.  Freshman Kennede Miller came off the bench to contribute in that department, totaling six rebounds in 13 minutes.  Emory harassed LaGrange with 14 steals, with Kaniut coming up with a career-best six thefts.

Emory returns to action on Wednesday (Nov. 19) when it makes it home debut against Oglethorpe University in a 6:00 pm tip.