The Emory women's basketball team clawed back from a 19-point halftime deficit at Maryville College Sunday afternoon but fell short in its comeback bid as the Scots held off the Eagles by a 76-69 margin. The loss snapped a four-game Emory win streak and dropped its overall record to 6-4 while Maryville raised its slate to 7-4.
Emory shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field while the host Scots turned in a 45.3 percent (24-of-53) effort. A key factor proved to be at the charity stripe with Maryville successful on 23-of-36 opportunities compared to Emory's 17-of-32.
Emory faced a 43-24 obstacle after the opening 20 minutes of play as it saw Maryville drain 57.7 percent (15-of-26) of its field goal opportunities. The Scots hit four-of-eight from three-point range in the first half while Emory misfired on all seven of its attempts. Emory led by a 16-15 margin with 12:45 left in the opening stanza before Maryville closed out the half on a 28-8 run. Alexis Rouvelas of Maryville scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the first half.
Undaunted, Emory roared back right at the outset of the second half, rattling off 13 unanswered points to narrow the gap to 43-37 with 15:45 remaining in the game. Freshman Hannah Lilly, sophomore Danielle Landry and senior Courtney Von Stein accounted for all the scoring in that stretch with Von Stein picking up five points and Lilly and Landry each totaling four points. Emory stayed within striking distance and trailed by five points, 46-41, with 12:50 on the clock after Becca Feldman sank a pair of free throws. However, the Scots went on a 7-0 blitz to take a 12-point lead with 11:42 left before Emory countered with an impressive 10-1 run, with freshman Savannah Morgan scoring five points, to creep to 54-51 with 9:03 left. However, that was as close as Emory would get for the remainder of the game. The Scots built a pair of nine-point leads after that Emory surge before a pair of charity tosses by Morgan with 1:51 remaining enabled the Eagles to battle to within four points, 69-65. Emory forced a Maryville turnover on its ensuing possession, but missed a three-point attempt with 1:47 on the clock that would have cut the margin to one point. Maryville then responded with back-to-back baskets that effectively out the game out of reach.
Morgan led the Eagles' scoring attack with a season-high 16 points and also doled out three assists. Sophomore Misha Jackson contributed 13 points and topped the club with nine rebounds. Von Stein and Hannah Lilly each finished with nine points.
Emory returns to action on Jan. 5 when it hosts Brescia University in a 2:00 p.m. tip.