The Emory women's basketball team came out on the short end of its University Athletic Association opener on Saturday, dropping a hard-fought 72-61 decision at the University of Rochester.  The loss dropped the Eagles' overall record to 7-5 while the Yellowjackets boosted their mark to 10-1.

Rochester never trailed in the contest as it registered its 10^th straight win.  The Yellowjackets ended the afternoon shooting 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the floor while limiting the Eagles to 30.4 percent (21-of-69).  Neither team shot the ball well from beyond the arc with Emory finishing at 22.7 percent (5-of-22) and Rochester at 14.3 percent (3-of-21).

Leading Emory's scoring effort was freshman Selena Castillo, who came off the bench to post a season-high 13 points.  Senior Courtney Von Stein rounded out the club's double-figure scorers with 12 points, hitting five-of-nine from the field including a pair of three-point field goals.  It was Von Stein's fifth effort of 10 or more points this season.  Junior Melissa Koike led the Eagles with six rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end. Koike also chipped eight points as did sophomore Misha Jackson.

Emory trailed by a 14-12 margin with 13:12 left in the first half following a basket by Jackson, but the Yellowjackets rattled off a 16-3 run that gave the hosts a 30-15 edge with 4:36 left.  To Emory's credit, it responded with a 10-4 charge to close out the stanza, with the last three coming on a triple by Von Stein, to narrow the gap to 34-25 at halftime.

Rochester, ranked No. 8 by D3hoops.com, opened the second half with a 15-4 sprint, with seven points coming from Melissa Alwardt, to lay claim to a 49-29 lead with 13:21 left in the game.  Emory battled back to within 10 points with 2:50 remaining but five straight points by UR's Laney Ming extended its lead to 15 points with 1:53 left and sealed the outcome of the contest.  Ling lead all players with 17 points. 

Emory returns to action next Friday (Jan. 14) when it plays at Washington University.