Despite a cold start from the floor, Emory University's women's basketball team came from behind and won a tough UAA conference game in double overtime over the University of Rochester, 73-67, on Saturday afternoon in the Palestra.
The Eagles (11-1, 1-0 UAA) scored eight of the 10 total points in the second overtime session to grab their third straight win. The Yellowjackets (8-4, 0-1 UAA) drop their second straight contest after falling to Ithaca on Wednesday evening.
Emory was led by four players in double figures, with Hannah Lilly and Savannah Morgan scoring 17 each. Misha Jackson had 14 points and Danielle Landry poured in 13.
Leading the Yellowjackets was
Danielle McNabb with 17 points and nine rebounds while senior
Amy Woods had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards. Classmate
Jackie Walker also had 11 points on the day.
Rochester got off to a great start from the floor, making 10 of its first 12 shots, but turnovers plagued them, with UR giving the ball up 10 times in the first 10 minutes to keep Emory within striking distance. The Eagles came out ice cold, missing their first seven shots from the field. After 10 minutes, UR held a 10 point lead at 16-6.
The lead was pushed to 28-10 soon after though as UR's hot shooting continued.
Kelsey Hurley had five points in a 12-4 run which gave UR its biggest lead of the day.
But Emory clawed back into the game, running off 12 straight points to cut the lead down to just six with two minutes remaining in the half. Lilly paced the spurt with eight points.
In the second session, UR's lead got as big as nine (37-28) after a McNabb layup with 16:48 remaining, but more turnovers hurt the Yellowjackets, as 13 cough-ups led to 10 Emory points in the last 20 minutes. For the game, UR committed 30 turnovers, with the Eagles giving the ball up 19 times of their own.
Emory was able to snatch its first lead of the game with just six minutes left when Morgan hit a layup to put the Eagles up 50-49. Rough free throw shooting in the game from both teams added to the sloppy nature of the contest. From the charity stripe, UR finished 17-31 (55%) while Emory was just 9-17 (53%).
After Morgan hit a jumper with 1:10 remaining in regulation, the visiting Eagles held their biggest advantage in the first 40 minutes at three, 58-55. Rochester's Walker then hit a huge 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in regulation to tie the score and eventually send the game to overtime.
At the end of the first extra period, McNabb was clutch from the free-throw line sinking two shots to tie the score up at 65 with just 16 seconds to play. In the second OT, the Yellowjackets seemed to tire and missed their first seven shots while also committing three more turnovers. Emory struggled as well, but made a couple baskets to put the game away after reaching a seven point lead with 1:22 left.
In addition to her team leading 17 points, Morgan had nine assists and six rebounds. Landry led the Eagles on the glass with nine rebounds.
UR greatly outrebounded Emory 54-38, but was only able to muster one more second chance point (10-9) than the Eagles. Emory's pressure defense that led to the turnovers combined with rough shooting night (23-60) led to the Yellowjackets' demise. The Yellowjackets were without leading scorer
Ally Zywicki who was out with an injury suffered in Wednesday's loss.
Up next for UR is another home UAA weekend, this time it is the University of Chicago coming to town on Friday before Washington University in St. Louis enters the Palestra on Sunday. Friday's game is a 6 pm and Sunday's tips off at approximately 2 pm.
