Emory Women's Basketball Closes Out 2009 With Win At Piedmont

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Emory senior Mary Smith's jumper with five seconds left propelled the Eagles to an exciting 65-63 victory at Piedmont College Thursday afternoon.  With the win, Emory captured its fourth straight decision and boosted its overall record to 6-4 while Piedmont slipped to 2-8.

Smith's finished the game with a season-high 12 points, and her final bucket could not have come at a better time as the Eagles fended off a late charge by the Lions. Smith was one of three double-figure scorers for the Eagles with seniors Keenan Whitesides and Whitney Martin totaling 15 and 14 points, respectively.  Martin grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the year, while Whitesides snared nine boards in helping Emory to a 38-27 edge on the glass.

Emory held a 10-point cushion, 37-27, with 18:14 left in the game following a basket by sophomore Becca Feldman.  However, the Lions fought back and took a one-point edge, 46-45, with 10:10 on the clock following a three-point field goal by Alyssa Jones.  From there, the contest became a nip-and-tuck affair and was knotted at 55-55 before a three-pointer by Martin, followed by a bucket by Smith, enabled Emory to claim a 60-55 advantage with 3:45 left. 

A trey by Piedmont's Lindsey Logan cut Emory's lead to two points but the Eagles countered with a shot from beyond the arc by Courtney Von Stein to push the score to 63-58 with 2:02 remaining.  With 21 ticks on the clock, and facing a three-point deficit,  PC's Shanice Wheeler missed a second foul shot that the Lions rebounded.  The board led to a tying three-pointer by Mandy Beasley with 19 seconds left. 

Smith then provided the winning shot when she received the inbounds and dribbled the length of the court before pulling up and hitting the short jumper.  Piedmont put up an ensuing shot from half court as time wound down but the attempt missed its mark.

Emory returns to action when it hosts Carnegie Mellon on January 8 in a 6:00 p.m. tip.

NOTES - Whitney Martin's 14 points represented her seventh straight double-figure scoring game ... Whitesides' 15 points was her seventh double-digit effort of the year and the third time this season that she paced the team in scoring ... Emory's 38-27 rebounding advantage was the team's largest differential this year and the marked the fifth time that the Eagles outboarded the opposition.