The No. 23 Emory women's basketball team dropped a close matchup against UAA foe Brandeis, falling to the Judges 64-62 in a home heartbreaker Friday night in Atlanta.

Rookie Tatum Olson led the Eagles with 22 points, coming one point shy of tying her career high. Junior Alexandra Loucopoulos also had a double-digit performance with 16 points on the night. On the defensive side, seniors Katherine Martini and Lily Kennedy each put up two blocks.

As the game began, it took the Eagles a few minutes to get on the board as Brandeis put up the first four points, but a jumper from Olson put the Eagles in the game to bring the score to 4-2. The Eagles didn't find the net again until more than halfway through as another jumper from Olson and a layup from senior Chloe Kreusser brought the score to 8-8, with Kreusser putting the Eagles in the lead with a good free throw. The Judges would lead the rest of the quarter, despite efforts from Martini in the last minute.

The Judges started hot as they went on a ten-point scoring run to start the quarter, increasing the score to 25-11 as the Eagles started playing catch up. A pair of made free throws from Loucopoulos and a tip in layup from junior Caroline Connelly put the Eagles down by 10, but a pair of threes from freshman Mia Strazza and Loucopoulos helped Emory get back in the game, bringing the score to 25-21 with 3:48 to go. The Judges kept pulling ahead, but that didn't stop the Eagles as a Connelly jumper and a pair of Olson three pointers brought the score to 34-29 going into the half.

The Eagles came into the second half with a chip on their shoulder, and Loucopoulos responded with back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to put the Eagles just two points shy of the lead. Despite a Strazza layup and another three pointer from Loucopoulos, the Eagles couldn't overtake the judges for the lead. A Loucopoulos layup put the Eagles one point away from the lead to make it 43-42, but the Judges responded as they went on a six-point scoring run.

It all came down to the final ten minutes as the Judges put the first points on the board, but Olson responded with a three pointer and a jumper to bring the score to 51-47. Another layup from Kreusser and a three from Olson brought the score to 53-52 as the Eagles inched closer to taking the lead and Strazza got it done, shooting a clutch three to give Emory the lead for the first time since the first quarter. That joy was quickly spoiled as the Judges responded with a three of their own to reclaim the lead and bring the score to 56-55 with 5:34 left. The Eagles kept fighting thanks to a jumper from Kreusser and a pair of free throws from Kennedy to bring the score to 59-56, but the Judges answered with back-to-back field goals to give themselves the one-point lead over the Eagles. With two minutes left on the clock, a jumper and made free throw from Olson put the Eagles up by two, but a layup from Brandeis' Elena Delicado brought the game to a 62-62 tie with 22 seconds left on the clock. With pressure mounting as the clock ran down, a Brandeis layup in the lane with 1.2 seconds left gave the Eagles one last chance to respond. Coming out of the timeout, Olson went for the game-tying jumper but could not get the shot to fall as the Eagles dropped their Friday night matchup against the Judges.

The Eagles will be back on home court this Sunday as they take on #1 NYU in the final game of a four-game homestand.