Emory Women's Basketball Picks Up Win At Case Western

Freshman Hannah Lilly scored a team-high 15 points and junior Becca Feldman contributed 10 points in sparking the Emory women’s basketball team to a road win at Case Western Reserve Friday evening.  The Eagles raised their overall record to 10-13, 3-9 in the University Athletic Association following a 57-53 triumph over the Spartans who slipped to 12-11, 6-6 in the UAA.

While shooting just 30.5 percent (18-of-59) from the floor, the Eagles did connect on 38.9 percent (7-of-18) of their three-point opportunities in nailing down the win.  Emory also used a swarming defense that came up with14 steals and forced 24 Case Western turnovers.  Case concluded the game hitting 36.5 percent from the floor, but just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) over the final 20 minutes of play.

During the first half of action, Emory was outshot from the floor, hitting 35.3 percent (11-of-31) of its field goal attempts compared to CWRU’s 44.0 percent (11-of-25) but made the most of its three-point field goal attempts, nailing six-of-11 from distance in taking a 34-27 lead at the intermission.  Feldman scored eight points off the bench while freshman Savannah Morgan and Lilly each chipped in six points.  The Eagles trailed by a 19-17 margin with 8:41 left in the stanza before rattling off a 10-2 run, keyed by triples by Feldman and senior Courtney Von Stein to take a 27-21 lead. After the Spartans drew to within two points, Emory closed out the final 2:41 of the half on a 7-2 charge with junior Melissa Koike and Von Stein scoring two points and Morgan nailing a three-pointer in that stretch.  Also contributing to Emory’s lead was an aggressive defensive effort that forced 13 Case miscues that led to an 11-4 edge in the points off turnovers category.

The opening nine minutes of the second stanza saw both teams struggle offensively as a total of just 13 points were scored in that stretch. The Eagles held a 42-39 lead with 9:54 left before holding the Spartans scoreless for nearly six minutes in building a 47-39 advantage with 3:10 left on the clock. CWRU battled back to within two points, 50-48, with 36 seconds remaining following a basket by Erin Hollinger but a pivotal three-point play by Koike on Emory’s ensuing possession upped the lead back to five with 30 seconds left. Also playing a key role in the win was sophomore Danielle Landry with a team-high 14 rebounds, her sixth effort of double figures in that category this season.

Emory returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 20) with a game at Carnegie Mellon.