Freshman forward Erin Lindahl drives in the Eagles’ game against Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) Sunday. Photo Courtesy Gabrielle Davis / Photo Staff.
The Emory women’s basketball team recorded its first victory in over two weeks and snapped a four-game losing streak in its first game of the weekend. The Eagles’ victory Friday, Feb. 17, against the Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) Spartans was followed by a loss Sunday, Feb. 19, to the Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) Tartans. The Eagles currently are 5-8 in UAA play and 14-10 overall.
On the tails of a lengthy losing streak, the Eagles rediscovered their winning ways against Case Western. Five different players scored for Emory, helping the team start the game with a 14-9 advantage.
Case Western battled the Eagles hard in the second quarter, inching one point closer to Emory at the half. Sophomore center Ashley Oldshue was Emory’s most reliable offensive player in the quarter, scoring 10 points. Oldshue’s contributions helped Emory carry a 35-31 lead into half-time.
Emory maintained the upper hand, leading by as much as 13 points with less than three minutes in the third. However, the Eagles 52-39 lead was slashed to a 52-47 advantage following a late run by Case Western to end the quarter.
Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty noted that her team played with a lot of energy in the second half.
“I thought in the second we channeled our energy,” Thomaskutty said. “By doing so we were able to play a really good game overall against a tough match-up for us in Case Western.”
Despite the challenging end to the third quarter, the Eagles glided to a victory in the fourth. Emory amassed a comfortable lead against Case Western and gave the Spartans no prospect of a comeback. The Eagles outscored Case Western 27-20 in the final quarter and walked away with a 79-67 win.
Emory’s leading scorer and rebounder in the game was Oldshue, who racked up 21 points and totalled eight boards. She was joined by senior guard Shellie Kaniut, who scored 16 points and freshman guard Allison Chernow, who led the team with nine assists.
Oldshue spoke about how consistency gave Emory an upper hand in the game and how it boosted the team’s morale.
“We came out against Case pretty consistent, a lot more consistent than we have been in a while,” Oldshue exclaimed. “The win was a big boost to team morale, considering that we are so close to ending the year and we want to end really strong.”
Thomaskutty indicated that the team’s guard play and ball movement were two major factors in the victory.
“[Case Western] was bigger than us, so we definitely wanted to give a lot of ball pressure to help match-up with their bigger guards,” Thomaskutty said. “Offensively, we moved the ball really well, and anytime we have had over 18 assists in a game we have done really well.”
Unfortunately, Emory ended with a much worse result in its second game of the weekend, defeated by Carnegie Mellon in a lopsided 82-60 Tartan victory.
Emory came out of the locker room strong to begin action Sunday, outscoring Carnegie Mellon 22-21 in a tightly contested first quarter. With two three-pointers, senior guard Fran Sweeney was instrumental in contributing to Emory’s offensive attack in the first.
The Eagles lost traction in the second quarter as the Tartans jumped ahead to a 39-33 lead before the half. Carnegie Mellon outscored Emory by an 18-11 margin in the quarter.
Down by six, Emory had a manageable deficit at the beginning of the second half. However, the third quarter turned disastrous for the Eagles as they were outscored 32-10. Emory yielded 18 points to Carnegie Mellon’s star center/forward, junior Lisa Murphy. Her 18 points helped Carnegie Mellon carry a 28-point lead into the fourth.
Thomaskutty explained that the team defense was unable to find any remedy for Carnegie’s offense in the third quarter.
“Our defense let us down and [Carnegie] got almost anything that they wanted,” Thomaskutty said. “We were supposed to double the low post and we were slow getting there.”
Although Emory outscored Carnegie Mellon 17-11 in the fourth quarter, Carnegie Mellon’s lead proved insurmountable. The Tartans comfortably handled the Eagles and won the game 82-60.
Oldshue once again led Emory in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and seven rebounds. In a dominant performance, the Tartan’s Murphy scored 35 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. The Eagles could not find a way to stop the Carnegie Mellon junior in the paint, and allowed the Tartans easy buckets and costly second-chance opportunities.
Oldshue considered Carnegie’s post presence to be one of the greatest challenges Emory faced.
“A team like Carnegie is a challenge defensively because they have a good post presence,” Oldshue said. “You can’t help too far off their guards either because they can beat you as well.”
Emory will conclude its regular season at home Saturday, Feb. 25, against the University of Rochester (N.Y.).
