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The women’s basketball team hosted two University Athletic Association (UAA) squads over the weekend, but lost to both the Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis (Mo.) Bears and the University of Chicago Maroons at home in the Woodruff P.E. Center (WoodPEC).

Emory lost to WashU 70-50 on Friday, Feb. 13, before falling to Chicago by a score of 73-52 on Sunday, Feb. 15.

The Eagles dropped to 11-11 on the season with a 3-8 mark in UAA play.

“We took on the top three teams in the [UAA] in a row,” Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty said. “All three will be in the NCAA tournament in two weeks.”

The Eagles hung tight with the league-leading Bears early.

However,  a three-pointer from freshman guard Natalie Orr put WashU up 16-6 seven minutes into the game.

Emory couldn’t close the gap from there, as the Bears extended their lead to a dominant 37-16 going into the half.

WashU started the second half with a 10-0 run to effectively put the game away.

Still, the Eagles finished the game strong, scoring 15 of the game’s final 18 points en route to closing the game to a 70-50 final.

Junior guard Ilene Tsao was the only Eagle in double figures with 12 points.

Junior guard Khadijah Sayyid and sophomore guard Fran Sweeney added eight apiece.

Tsao also led the Eagles with nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double.

The game against Chicago was a defensive struggle, with both teams combining for just two baskets in the first four minutes of play.

A three-pointer from Sayyid gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, but the Maroons countered with a 13-0 run to put Emory in an early hole.

The Eagles chipped away at the lead, closing to 35-24 after Sweeney drained a three before halftime.

“Both teams are so much bigger than us,” Thomaskutty said. “There’s nothing we can do to grow overnight.”

Two straight baskets from freshman center Dumebi Egbuna out of the intermission pulled the Eagles within seven, but it was the closest they would get for the rest of the game, as Chicago pulled away with 38 second-half points.

Sayyid led the team with 11 points, while Egbuna chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

Sophomore guard Shellie Kaniut and freshman forward Mikaila Schmitt both had strong outings off the bench with eight points apiece.

“Where we’re at right now, we’re trying to build some momentum for the offseason,” Thomaskutty said.

The Eagles will take the court next on Friday, Feb. 20 at Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) at 6 p.m.​ and then to Carnegie Mellon University (Penn.) on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Eagles now only have three more games until the UAA Championships.

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Associate Editor | Ryan Smith is a College senior from Philadelphia majoring in journalism and American studies. He loves journalism and collegiate athletics, and thus considers it a miracle that he’s survived three years at Emory. He joined the Wheel his freshman year as Assistant Sports Editor before serving as Sports Editor and Features Editor. His work has appeared on SB Nation, Uproxx, Atlanta Magazine, Rivals, 247Sports and various DUC napkins, among other places. Nowadays, he can be found covering University of South Florida athletics for Bulls247.com.