Senior Savannah Morgan scored a game-high 27 points to lead three double-figure scorers but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball dropped a hard-fought decision to New York University Friday evening.  The Eagles saw their overall record slip to 16-7 overall, 5-7 in the University Athletic  Association, after dropping an 82-73 verdict to the Violets who raised their overall slate to 19-4, 8-4 in the league.

Morgan, who scored 18 of her game total over the final 20 minutes of play, ended the evening hitting 10-of-21 from the floor, including two-of-four from three-point range, and all five of her free throw attempts en route to her seventh performance of 20 or more points this year.   Morgan also grabbed a team high seven rebounds and doled out seven assists.  Senior Gabi Whitmer added 11 points and six rebounds while sophomore Ilene Tsao rounded out the club's double-digit scorers with 10 points.

Emory closed the game by shooting 40 percent (28-of-70) from the floor compared to NYU's 46 percent (23-of-50).  The Violets converted 50 percent (6-of-12) of their three-point opportunities while the Eagles sank 30.4 percent (7-of-23).   NYU enjoyed a big advantage at the foul line, successful on 30-of-41 tries while the Eagles sank 10-of-15.

NYU used a 12-4 spurt early in the second half that pushed a four-point lead into a 12-point advantage, 49-37, with 15:45 left in the contest.    However, the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run, started by a three-point field goal by senior Selena Castillo and followed by buckets from Tsao and Morgan, to whittle the gap to five points with 14:17 on the clock.  NYU assumed a 58-50 following a basket by Kaitlyn Read but Emory blitzed the visitors with a 12-0 barrage, with Morgan accounting for four points and Tsao knocking down a triple in that stretch , to claim a 62-58 advantage with 7:34 remaining.   NYU cut the Emory lead to two points, 64-62, after a layup by Megan Dawe, but a three pointer by Tsao gave the Eagles their largest lead of the night, 67-62 with 6:30 on the clock.  NYU responded by scoring the game's next nine points, seven coming from Read, who paced the Violets' scoring attack with 26 points, to take a 71-67 advantage with 4:25 left.  Emory got to within two points after Morgan knocked down a jumper with 3:35 on the clock but that would be as close as the Eagles would get for the remainder of the contest.   A pair of free throws by Whitmer kept Emory within striking distance, down 76-73 with 1:58 left, but the Eagles wouldn't score again while NYU sank all six of its free throw attempts over the final 1:38 of the game.

Emory returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Brandeis starting at 2:00 pm.