The Emory women's basketball team saw a furious fourth-quarter rally come up short Tuesday afternoon as the Eagles came out on the short end of a tough battle to Birmingham Southern at the Berry College Classic.  The Panthers of BSC upped their record to 8-0 following a 64-56 outcome over the Eagles who slipped to 6-2.

Senior Khadijah Sayyid led the Emory scoring attack with 15 points, her fourth double-figure scoring effort of the campaign, with all of her points coming as a result of a career-high five three-point field goals in 11 opportunities.  Sayyid also topped the club with six boards and came up with a pair of steals, running her streak to 35 games with at least one theft to her credit.  Sophomore Dumebi Egbuna rounded out the squad's double-figure scorers with 11 points.    Senior Ilene Tsao doled out a season-best eight assists with that mark representing her second-highest career total.

The third and fourth quarters saw the Panthers outpoint the Eagles by a 32-24 margin with Emory connecting on just 28.6 (8 of 28) from the floor in the final two stanzas compared to BSC's mark of 47.6 percent (10 of 21).  For the game, BSC senior Yorisha Bryant led all players with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Halle Knowles added 18 points. 

Trailing by a two-point margin early in the third quarter, back-to-back buckets by Tsao, followed by a basket by junior Shellie Kanuit, put Emory ahead by a 41-37 margin with 4:49 left.  However, that would be the final points of the frame for the Eagles, as the Panthers accounted for the quarter's final seven points, closed out with a circus shot by Knowles at the buzzer, to take a 44-41 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

A three pointer by Sayyid to open the final quarter tied the game, 44-44, but Emory hit a scoring drought, going scoreless for over four and one-half minutes while the Panthers registered 11 unanswered points, surging to a 55-44 lead with 5:31 on the clock.  A three-point play by Egbuna with 5:17 remaining jump started the Eagles to an impressive 12-4 burst, drawing them to within 60-56 with three minutes left.  However, that would be as close as Emory would get as the Panthers finished with the game's final four points. 

Emory wound up the game sinking 36.8 percent (21 of 57) from the field, including 32.1 percent (9 of 28) from distance.  Birmingham Southern converted 43.8 percent (21 of 48) of its floor attempts and was successful on five-of-15 from three-point range.  Free throw shooting played a role in the outcome with BSC hitting 17 of 25 from the stripe while the Eagles were successful on five of their 11 tries. The Panthers finished with a 40-31 edge in rebounding that helped negate their 18 turnovers compared to Emory's 14 miscues.

Birmingham Southern built a pair of seven-point leads during the first quarter, the last being a 15-8 cushion with 3:22 left following a bucket by Bryant.  However, the Eagles finished out the stanza on a 10-4 run, with Sayyid knocking down a pair of triples and Michelle Bevan a pair of field goals, to narrow the deficit to one point.   After the Panthers opened the second quarter with a triple, Emory rattled off an 8-0 charge, capped by a three pointer by Shellie Kaniut, to claim a 26-22 advantage.  Bryant then accounted for six points during an 8-0 counter by BSC that pushed it to a 30-26 lead with 3:45 left in the half.  After back-to-back three pointers by Sayyid gave Emory a two-point edge, a bucket by the Panthers' Jasmynn Batts with 13 ticks on the clock knotted the score at 32-32 heading into the break.   Sayyid's four treys gave her a team-high 12 points during the first 20 minutes of action, with Emory connecting at a 44.8 percent clip (13 of 29) from floor, including 40 percent (6 of 15) from beyond the arc.  Bryant led BSC scoring effort with 11 points.  The Panthers were successful on 40.7 percent from the field (11 of 27).

Emory returns to action on Wednesday when it faces host Berry College in a scheduled 6:00 pm start.