The Emory women’s basketball team competed and lost in a University Athletic Association (UAA) game on Saturday against the University of Rochester (N.Y.), with a score of 66-42.
The team now has a record of 8-4, previously having sustained a two-game winning streak. The Eagles topped both Guilford College (N.C.) and Rhodes College (Tenn.) on the road after splitting a pair of games at the Piedmont Invitational over winter break.
The Eagles’ shooting percentage from the floor throughout the game was 25.6 percent, their second-lowest of the season. Rochester, however, scored at 42.4 percent. For three-point shots, Rochester scored at 45.5 percent, and Emory scored one of 11 shots.
Junior guard Ilene Tsao was the only team member to score in the double digits, totaling 11 points. Sophomore Michelle Bevan scored the second highest with eight points.
Junior guard Khadijah Sayyid notched six assists and five steals. Sophomore center Patricia Mook tied Sayyid in rebounders with six.
“It wasn’t our best game,” Sayyid said. “I feel like we weren’t firing on all cylinders as a team.”
Toward the beginning of the game, both teams had low offensive momentum with the score tied 2-2 at 6:27 into the game. Rochester eventually pulled ahead with a 15-2 run over a four minute stretch, resulting in a score of 17-4 with 9:38 left in the first quarter.
Emory made a slight comeback with a 8-2 run, putting their score deficit at seven points instead of 13. However, Rochester quickly took a larger lead with a 16-2 run, including three three-pointers. The first half ended in a double-digit game with a score of 39-20.
“Rochester was shooting really well,” Sayyid said.
Freshman forward Dumebi Egbuna scored first in the second half, however, Rochester pulled ahead again with a 11-2 run. With just 15:36 left in the game, Rochester led by 26 points with a score of 50-24.
Rochester increased their lead to 30 with just under 10 minutes to go in the contest, but a late Eagles run punctuated by a Tsao layup and free throw pulled the score to 64-42. Rochester added a late layup, and both teams were held scoreless over the last one and a half minutes.
Sayyid said the nature of UAA competitions is that every game is an opportunity. She added that she is looking forward to facing Rochester again later in the season.
The women’s basketball team will play on Friday Jan. 16 against No. 4-ranked Washington University in St. Louis.
Sayyid said she believes the team is “ready to compete and throw everything on the line” throughout the rest of the season.
— By Rupsha Basu, News Editor
