Senior Ilene Tsao scored a season-high 20 points, but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball team came out on the short end of a road decision to the University of Chicago.  The Maroons raised their overall record to 10-7, 3-3 in the University Athletic Association following 79-73 win over the Eagles who slipped to 10-7 overall, 1-5 in the league.

Tsao ended the evening hitting eight-of-11 field goal attempts, along with four free throws, en route to registering her fourth double-figure effort of the season.  Junior Shellie Kaniut contributed 14 points to the cause, converting six field goals in 11 opportunities, while sophomore Dumebi Egbuna rounded out the squad's double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Emory led 38-36 early in the third quarter before Chicago went on a 14-4 run, keyed by five points from Jamie Kockenmeister and four by Olariche Obu, to claim a 50-42 advantage with 4:28 left in the stanza.  A pair of charity tosses by the Maroons' Stephanie Anderson, who finished with 16 points, kept them ahead by eight points, but Emory closed out the final 1:08 of the quarter scoring five unanswered points, ignited by a Tsao bucket, to trail by just three points heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

A basket by Kaniut drew Emory to within one point with 8:23 left in the contest, but an Anderson bucket followed by a layup by Britta Nordstrom gave the host squad a seven-point cushion with 3:45 remaining.  After the teams split the next four points, Tsao accounted for four straight points that allowed the Eagles to creep to within three points with 2:50 on the clock.  After swapping baskets, Emory's defense held firm on a Maroon possession.   An Eagle three-point attempts with 47 ticks left, rimmed in and out and was boarded by UC.  The Maroons then went on to convert seven of eight free throws over the final 45 seconds to secure the win.

Emory shot 50 perecent (30 of 60) from the floor while UC finished at 45.3 percent (24 of 53).  The Maroons did knock down six treys in 17 attempts while Emory sank one in five tries.  Chicago held a decided edge at the foul line with 25 makes in 32 attempts with Emory converting 12 of 21.  Emory did record a 37-31 advantage in rebounding, and was led in that category by the five-player committee of Michelle Bevan, Fran Sweeney, Khadijah Sayyid, Ashley Oldshue and Lauren Weems.  

With Tsao and Kaniut scoring 10 and six points, respectively, Emory built a 36-33 lead heading into halftime.  The Eagles connected on 53.6 percent (15 of 28) from the floor over the opening two quarters compared to Chicago's 46.2 percent (12 of 26).  A key factor in Emory leading for the bulk of the first half was tough play on the boards, as the Eagles posted a 19-10 edge on the glass.  Emory did not allow the Maroons to get an offensive rebound during the opening 20 minutes of play.  The Eagles' biggest lead was a 25-17 count during the opening moments of the second quarter.  A 5-0 Maroon spurt drew them to within one point with 4:39 left in the stanza but Sweeney went on a 5-0 run that kept Emory on the right side of the score.  A bucket by sophomore Lauren Weems followed by a Tsao jumper pushed Emory to a six-point lead with just under a minute left, but a trey by UC's Stephanie Anderson with 32 ticks on the clock closed out the scoring for the half.

Emory returns to action on Sunday (Jan. 31) when it plays at No. 10-ranked Washington University.