Box Score Junior Khadijah Sayyid and sophomore Michelle Bevan combined for 33 points but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought decision to New York University on Sunday. Emory saw its overall record dip to 11-9 overall, 3-6 in the University Athletic Association, after coming out on the short end of a 67-60 verdict to the No. 8-ranked Violets who upped their record to 18-2 overall, 7-2 in the league.
Sayyid led all scorers with 18 points, all of which came in the second half, sinking seven-of-13 from the floor, including three-of-four-from beyond the arc, in racking up her 15th double-figure scoring performance of the season. Sayyid also topped the Eagles' rebounding effort with five caroms. Bevan came through with a career-high tying 15 points, her eighth double-figure scoring outing this season.
With Bevan scoring 10 first-half points, Emory took a 28-27 lead heading into halftime. The opening 20 minutes was a back-and-forth affair with a total of nine ties and seven lead changes. Early in the second stanza the score was deadlocked, before Emory hit a cold stretch, missing nine straight field goal attempts while the Violets scored 14 unanswered points to claim a 44-30 lead with 11:32 left in the game. The Eagles still faced a 13-point deficit with 6:09 remaining before embarking on a comeback, beginning with an 8-2 spurt, highlighted by a Sayyid three pointer, that that drew Emory to within seven points with 2:44 on the clock. After a basket by NYU's Kaitlyn Read, who registered 14 points and 16 rebounds on the day, Sayyid knocked down another from distance, keeping Emory within striking distance at 60-54 with a minute to go. Down by seven, Sayyid hit another from beyond the arc, cutting the Violets' cushion to four points, 64-60, with 37 seconds left. However, NYU fended off the Eagles' charge by hitting three free throws over the final 35 seconds of the contest.
The Eagles return to action next Friday (Feb. 13) when they host No. 6 Washington University.
