Junior guard Ilene Tsao Dribbles down the court behind freshman Dumebi Egbuna. Tsao, Egbuna and the Emory women will continue their conference play at home next week. | Courtesy of Emory Athletics.
The Emory women’s basketball team expected that their road trip last weekend would be a tough one — and it was. They dropped two games, one to the Brandeis University (Mass.) Judges and a second to the New York University (NYU) Violets.
Their games began on Friday, in Waltham, Mass., where they traveled to play the Judges.
The Eagles got off to a slow start, falling behind 36-24 to the Judges in the first half, although they managed to balance the score in the second. Despite similar shooting figures, 36 percent for the Eagles and 37 percent for the Judges, Brandeis came out on the winning end of a 68-56 score.
Brandeis was carried by an unusually high free throw disparity. The Judges reached the charity stripe 29 times, where they converted 23, compared to only 14 trips and eight makes for the Eagles.
Sophomore Shellie Kaniut was the only Eagle in double figures with 14 points on 5-9 shooting. Junior Khadijah Sayyid and freshman Dumebi Egbuna also added 9 points and 8 points, respectively.
The rough offensive showing spoiled a solid defensive effort in which the Eagles forced 22 turnovers to the Judges’ 13. The Eagles also held the Judges under 40 percent shooting, only allowing 13 on 11 attempts.
Emory was also defeated handedly on the boards, as Brandies doubled up Emory’s rebound total 57-28.
“We have to have post defense to win in the UAA [University Athletic Association],” Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty said. “Every game we have, there’s always a great post player on the other team, so we have to be fundamentally sound in the paint.”
Emory’s second game of the weekend took place on Sunday. It was a cold and windy day in New York City, where the Eagles braved the snowy weather in an afternoon game against the NYU Violets.
Once again, the Eagles were unable to crawl back from an early deficit, after they were outscored 41-30 by the Violets in the first half. The team struggled once again from the field, shooting an anemic 29 percent overall and 13 percent from three-point land.
Sayyid, who recorded a double-double in the game, scored a team high 13 points on two for 10 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds. Sophomore Michelle Bevan dropped 12 points on 3-9 shooting, and sophomore Fran Sweeney added 10 points on three for 10 shooting.
The two teams combined to make 42 free throws on 60 attempts. However, the real difference between the teams was in shooting once again. As mentioned earlier, compared to the Eagles’ 29 percent, the Violets were successful a tick under 40 percent of the time.
“We need to limit their second chance points,” Thomaskutty said. “Every time that you give up an easy basket, you’re just digging yourself into a hole.”
The Eagles are relieved to get back home and have the opportunity for redemption as they face both Brandeis and NYU again this week at home. A change of scenery may be what they need.
The team will look forward to improving their play against the Judges at 6 p.m. on Friday and the Violets at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC).
-By Jacob Durst, Staff Writer
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