Junior Michelle Bevan scored a career-high 21 points in the leading the Emory women's basketball team to a Monday afternoon win at home against Rhodes College. The Eagles won for the eighth time in their last nine outings and upped their record to 9-2 following a 70-46 triumph over the Lynx who slipped to 6-6. It was Emory's final non-conference game of the regular season.
Bevan ended the afternoon sinking 10-of-14 from the floor and one free throw en route to her second double-figure scoring performance of the season and her first career effort of 20 or more points. Bevan's previous career high was 15 points on two occasions. Junior Shellie Kaniut gave the Eagles some instant offense off the bench, totaling 16 points on six-of-eight field goal shooting that included a pair of triples in three opportunities. It represented Kaniut's third consecutive and fourth double-digit contest of the season.
Despite Bevan's eight points, Emory faced a 15-12 deficit after the opening 10 minutes of action, but quickly erased that gap by outscoring the Lynx by a 20-6 margin in the second quarter to stake itself to a 32-21 heading into the break. With the score knotted at 21-21, the Eagles held Rhodes scores over the final 5:05 of the frame, going on an 11-0 spree that saw Kaniut account for five points while Bevan and senior Ilene Tsao each chipped in three points.
Emory kept the pressure on the Lynx in the third stanza, posting a 19-6 scoring bulge that saw it drain 53.3 percent (8 of 14) from the field. A bucket by Bevan jumped started another 11-0 blitz over a five-minute span that ballooned the Eagles' cushion to 24 points at 49-25 with just under a minute left in the quarter.
Kanuit and sophomore Lauren Weems registered four points apiece as part of Emory's opening 12 points in the final quarter with a pair of charity tosses by Weems giving the Eagles their largest lead of the game, 64-34, with 5:25 remaining.
Emory concluded the afternoon shooting 47.6 percent (30 of 63) from the field, its second-highest mark of the season, including 41.7 percent (5 of 12) from beyond the arc.
Rhodes finished the game with a 28.6 percent showing (16 of 56) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5 of 17) from distance. RC's field goal percentage was the second-lowest Emory opponent total of the season and the ninth time a foe failed to reach 40 percent. The Eagles registered a 39-36 advantage in the rebounding category and were led in that category by sophomore Mikaila Schmitt's six boards. Emory forced 26 Lynx turnovers with Kaniut, Tsao and senior Khadijah Sayyid all coming up with four steals.
Emory returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 9) when it opens University Athletic Association play with a home game against Rochester starting at 2:00 pm.