Emory Women's Basketball Ends Season With Win Over Case

Emory senior Lora Turner, playing in her final collegiate game, totaled a career-high 29 points in sparking the Eagles to a victory over Case Western Reserve University in the season finale for both squads.  Emory ended the year with a 13-12 overall record, 4-10 in the University Athletic Association, following a 74-59 decision over the Spartans who fell to 10-15 overall, 3-11 in the conference.

Turner scored 19 points in the second half in helping Emory to a decisive 50-37 scoring edge over the visitors.  She hit eight-of-nine from the floor and three-of-four the foul over the final 20 minutes of action in helping the Eagles shoot 51.5 percent from the floor in the half.  For the game, she sank 13-of-17 from the field in registering her 23rd double-figure scoring contest of the year and 10th or 20 or more points.  Turner also grabbed seven rebounds, second high on the team, and recorded three steals.  Turner finished 2008-09 with 419 total points, fourth on the school's seasonal ladder, as well as posting a school record 59.5 percent mark from the floor (174-of-292).

Both teams were looking for their offenses to click in the first half as Emory took a 24-22 lead into the intermission.  Both clubs shot less than 40 percent from the floor and hit a combined two-of-19 from three-point range.

With the score tied, 26-26, early in the second half, the Eagles rattled off a 9-2 scoring spurt, keyed by five points by senior Jenny Kraus, to take a 35-28 lead.  After a pair of Case charity tosses, Emory used a 10-1 run to build a 14-point cushion, 45-31, with 14:21 left in the contest.  Turner picked up five points in that stretch while junior Mary Smith added a three-point field goal.  The Eagles were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest and led by as many as 20 points on three occasions.

Helping in the win was junior LeShonda Lillard with 11 points, nine coming in the second half, along with seven assists and three steals.  Lillard finished the year with 69 thefts, second on Emory's seasonal chart.

For the game, Emory shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field while Case finished at 39.6 percent (19-of-48).  The Eagles held a slim 36-34 margin in rebounding and were led in that department by Keenan Whiteside's eight boards.

Besides Turner, other Emory players seeing final collegiate action included Jenny Kraus (8 pts., 2 rebs.) Kendall Boyd (4 pts., 2 rebs.) and Kerry Madison (2 pts., 1 reb., 2 steals).