The women's basketball team lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Division II Clayton State University (CSU) Lakers Saturday evening.
The team fell short by only two points, following two Clayton State free throws in the final seconds of the game. The Lakers walked away with a 59-57 victory.
Regardless of a loss following CSU's senior guard Keona Dixon's two free throws, the Emory women fought hard throughout the game, especially in the second half.
"Each team went on runs here and there throughout the game, but we didn't get rattled. We kept our composure whether we were up or down," senior center Danielle Landry said. "I am very proud of our team; we learned a lot from the game and all the mistakes we made are definitely fixable."
Junior guard Hannah Lilly and senior forward Misha Jackson lived up to the hype they created in the pre-season, combining for 32 out of the Eagles' 57 points in the game. Lilly scored 17, including five three-pointers. Jackson put up 15, with a number of lay-ups, jump shots and clean free throws.
Landry displayed impressive defensive play, bringing the Eagles 13 rebounds and contributing four steals during the game.
"Going into the game we weren't sure what to expect, we didn't know much about Clayton State: their plays, playing style, personnel, etc. But we just played the way we know how to play," Landry said. "We really tried to focus on all of the fundamentals and little things like boxing out, running, team defense and more. We knew if we just played the way we know how it didn't matter how Clayton State played."
The first half did not start on the right note for the Eagles, as CSU had staked a 26-4 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
By the end of the half, however, the Eagles had the score up to 27-35 with six different players scoring. Freshman guard Khadijah Sayyid scored five out of her nine points in that stretch, pushing the Emory women forward.
"The freshmen did great out on the court, making major runs in the first and second halves," Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty said. "Their offensive and defensive plays were noteworthy as well. Two other standouts included [freshman forward/center] Sarah Arington and [junior guard] Marissa Resnick. Both women have just gotten off of injuries but managed to play really, really well."
The Lakers opened the second half by scoring 11 points in the first five minutes, giving them a 46-29 advantage.
With just over 10 minutes left on the clock, the Lakers were still in control, holding a 54-39 lead over the Eagles.
Emory was not ready to walk away defeated, however.
The women shocked the host team and their home crowd with a 15-1 run, including back-to-back three pointers by Lilly. With 2:31 remaining on the clock, the Eagles trailed 55-54.
After a pair of CSU free throws and another three-pointer by Lilly, the game was knotted up at 57-57. In the final moments, CSU's Dixon managed a steal, resulting in an Emory foul.
Dixon made both her free throws, giving the Lakers the 59-57 edge they would win the game with.
Despite their strong effort against a higher-Division opponent, the Eagles are not completely satisfied with their performance, and found a lot to learn from in this loss.
"We had 35 turnovers and you cannot win a ball game with that, so that is definitely something to work on," Thomaskutty said. "CSU beat us in transitions way too many times, even though we knew what we were up against going into the game. They exposed some of our areas of weakness and now we can work on it and move forward for upcoming games."
The squad is now looking forward to building on this exhibition game as they go into the regular season.
"We are ready and excited for our next game," Landry said. "We just want to see how much we have improved since yesterday, where we played hard and surprised the opposing team in the second half."
The Eagles will be kicking off the season with the Emory Tipoff Classic against Spelman College at the WoodPec on Friday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
– By Nicola Braginsky
