Box Score Junior Khadijah Sayyid led the team with 17 points, eight rebounds and five steals but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball squad came up short against Piedmont College in the title game of the Cancer Awareness Tournament held on the Piedmont campus. The Eagles saw their three-game winning streak snapped and record drop to 6-3 following an 81-69 setback to the Lions who upped their season slate to 7-1.
Sayyid was one of four double-figure scorers for Emory and concluded the game by connecting on seven-of-15 from the floor, including three-of-six from three point range, in chalking up her seventh double-digit performance of the campaign. Junior Ilene Tsao totaled 13 points, six rebounds and a career-high 10 assists with that mark tying the 10th-highest individual game total in school history. Sophomore Michelle Bevan registered a career-high 12 points, all of which came during the second half, and freshman Lauren Weems also chipped in a dozen points, sinking four-of-nine from the floor including a pair of triples.
After a bucket by Tsao cut a Piedmont lead to 48-47 with 16:32 remaining in the game, the Lions responded with a crucial 14-1 burst, with Julianne Bayer picking up eight points for PC in that stretch, to take a 62-48 advantage. Bayer ended the game leading all players with 21 points while snatching a game-best 13 rebounds. Emory, suiting up just nine players (PC held a 37-19 advantage in bench scoring), battled back on the strength of a 10-2 spurt, with Bevan scoring four points in the run, to draw to within six points, 64-58, with 8:58 on the clock. However, that would be as close as the Eagles would get as they hit a rough patch offensively, going scoreless for a 5:41 span while PC scored nine unanswered points to bolt to a 15-point cushion, 73-58, with 3:28 on the clock. Emory did make one last run at the Lions, using a 9-2 blitz, capped off by a triple by Sayyid and also sparked by six points from Bevan, to narrow the gap to eight points but four Lions' charity tosses over the final 44 seconds closed out the game's scoring.
Piedmont hit on 45.8 percent from the floor (27-of-59) compared to Emory's effort of 40.9 percent (27-of-66). Free throw shooting played a key role in the outcome with the Lions draining 22-of-30 from the stripe while Emory was successful on nine of its 15 opportunities. The Eagles did hold a slight 42-40 edge in rebounding.
Emory returns to action on Friday when it plays at Guilford College (7-2) in a 2:00 p.m. start.
