The women’s basketball team split a pair of University Athletic Association (UAA) games at home over the weekend, topping the Brandeis University (Mass.) Judges 67-61 on Friday before losing to the New York University (NYU) Violets 67-60 on Sunday. The Eagles are now 11-9 on the season with a 3-6 mark in UAA play.
After a slow start against Brandeis, the Eagles went on a 12-0 run that included seven points from junior guard Khadijah Sayyid. The Judges cut the Emory lead to single digits with just under three minutes left in the half, but the Eagles responded with a jumper from Sayyid and a three-point play from freshman forward Lauren Weems to establish a 42-31 lead entering halftime.
The Judges made a quick run out of the half with two consecutive three-pointers from sophomore guard Frankie Pinto to cut the advantage to 44-40. The teams traded baskets before Brandeis went on an 8-0 run with 11 minutes left to grab a slim 52-50 lead.
Sayyid answered with a jumper to tie the game. The Eagles answered with a 10-0 run of their own, but the Judges slowly chipped away and pulled to 63-61 with an Olivia Shaw layup with 30 seconds to go. Brandeis fouled Sayyid on the Eagles’ next possession, and the junior made a pair of free throws to ice the game.
Sayyid was the star of the game, with a game-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds. Sophomore forward Michelle Bevan notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while junior guard Ilene Tsao and sophomore guard Fran Sweeney both landed in double figures with 10 and 11 points, respectively.
The win provided some measure of revenge for the Eagles, who had lost to Brandeis on the road a week earlier.
“We knew we didn’t perform like we should have the weekend before,” Tsao said. “There weren’t too many adjustments made, it was more about changing our mentality.”
The Eagles’ game against NYU was a back-and-forth affair to start, with five lead changes in the game’s first 10 minutes. For every Eagles basket, the Violets had a response — when Bevan knocked down a jumper to put Emory ahead 18-15, NYU junior forward Megan Dawe answered with a three-point play to tie the game.
Two minutes later, when Bevan responded with a three-point play of her own, Violets junior guard Riley Wurtz knotted the game at 23 apiece with a three-pointer. Emory got the last word in the first half, however, on a free throw with just one second to go to put the Eagles up 28-27 entering the intermission.
The Violets came out firing in the second half. A 17-2 run that spanned nine minutes pulled NYU ahead 44-30 before Sweeney answered at the line with a pair of free throws. A three-pointer from sophomore guard Shellie Kaniut cut the lead to single digits with just under nine minutes to go, but the Violets had an answer for every Eagles run. Emory threatened once more down the stretch on a remarkable nine straight points from Sayyid, but NYU went seven for eight at the free throw line in the last minute, and the Eagles couldn’t cut the gap to a single possession.
“It’s all mental,” Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty said of the Eagles’ second half struggles. “We’re not consistent enough. The only thing we’re consistent at is being inconsistent.”
Sayyid once against led the Eagles with 18 points, while Bevan contributed 15. They were the only two players in double digits for Emory.
The Eagles will stay in Atlanta to host UAA rival Washington University (Mo.) this Friday at 6 p.m.
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.
