Senior Gabi Whitmer came through with a career-high 27 points and the No. 10-ranked Emory women's basketball rallied from a big second-half deficit in escaping with an exciting victory at Piedmont College Tuesday afternoon. Emory tied the program's longest win streak and raised its overall record to 10-0 following a 73-70 decision over the Lions who slipped to 6-3.
Whitmer, whose previous career high was seven points set earlier this season at Berry College (Dec. 7), closed out the afternoon converting seven-of-12 from the floor and 13-of- 15 from the free throw line in registering the third-highest scoring performance by an Emory player this year. Whitmer's free throw total tied her with Stephanie Seibert for the fourth-highest individual game effort in school history.
The Eagles ended the game shooting 34.8 percent from the floor (24-of-69), picking up the pace in that department over the second half, converting 46.7 (14-of-30) of their field goal tries. Piedmont finished off the day, sinking 39.3 percent from the field (22-of-56), but slumped over the final 20 minutes of play, converting just 33.3 percent (9-of-27). Emory enjoyed a 49-37 edge in rebounding with Whitmer, freshman Shellie Kaniut and senior Hannah Lilly all grabbing seven boards.
After building a 10-point cushion at halftime, the Lions scored the first five points of the second half to claim a 43-28 advantage with 18:33 left in the contest. A pair of free throws by Whitmer would draw the Eagles to within 10 points, but five unanswered points by Piedmont stretched its lead to 15 points again, 50-35, with 15:45 left in the contest. However, Emory stormed back with a dominating 18-3 barrage over a six-minutes stretch, keyed by seven points apiece by Whitmer and Kaniut, to draw even at 53-53 with 7:21 on the clock.
A three-point play by PC's Elise Reyes gave the Lions a 56-53 lead but Emory countered with a three-point play by Whitmer to knot the score back up. After a pair of charity tosses by Taylor Swoszowski enabled Piedmont to claim a 66-63 edge, back-to-back baskets by senior Selena Castillo, followed by two free throws by Whitmer, pushed the Eagles to a 69-66 lead with 2:36 left. The Lions battled their way to a 70-69 lead with 1:27 left following a bucket by Le'Shaundra Jones, but a layup by Whitmer, her finals points of the day, with 45 ticks on the clock, proved to be the winning margin for the Eagles. Castillo made one of two from the stripe with 21 seconds left, and on its ensuing possession Piedmont turned the ball over with six seconds left.
Whitmer was one of four double-figure scorers for the Eagles with senior Savannah Morgan and Kaniut each adding 12 points. Rounding out the group was Castillo with 10 points.
Emory struggled to find its shooting eye during the opening 20 minutes of action, hitting just 25.6 percent (10-of-39) of its field goal attempts in falling behind by a 38-28 margin at halftime. The Lions connected on 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the floor including 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from three-point range. The Eagles trailed by three points, 27-24, with 3:27 left in the stanza following a jumper by Morgan, but the Lions rattled off a 9-0 run, keyed by back-to-back triple triples by Swoszowski and Erin Clifford, to bolt to a 12-point lead with 2:03 on the clock. Whitmer paced the Eagles' scoring effort with nine points, hitting three of her five field goal opportunities, while Morgan chipped in seven points.
The 10-0 start represents the first time in program history that an Emory squad has won its opening 10 contests and ties the program's longest win streak while establishing a record for the longest winning streak in a single season. The previous 10-game win streak started with the last game of the 1993-94 campaign and through the first nine games of the 1994-95 season.
Emory returns to action on Jan. 4 when it plays host to Johns Hopkins in a 4:00 pm tip.