Sophomore Dumebi Egbuna scored a career-high tying 19 points but it wasn't enough as a gallant effort by the Emory women's basketball team against No. 9 Washington University fell short.  The Bears raised their overall record to 16-4, 7-2 in the University Athletic Association following a 72-69 verdict over the Eagles who slipped to 11-9, 2-7 in the league.

Egbuna hit seven-of-eight field goal attempts and five free throws in registering her sixth double-figure scoring effort of the season. In addition, she paced the team in rebounding for the seventh time this year, chalking up seven boards.  Sophomore Lauren Weems gave Emory a big scoring boost off the bench, racking up a career-high 13 points on four-of-seven field goal shooting, including two three pointers in three attempts, to go along with three makes from the charity stripe.  Junior Fran Sweeney hit three three-point field goals and finished with nine points while senior Ilene Tsao dished out a game-high seven assists. 

Trailing by a 54-46 margin entering the final quarter, the Eagles still faced a 10-point deficit with 3:12 left in the contest following bucket by the Bear's Jenn Dynis.   After a jumper by Egbuna cut the deficit to eight, a three-point play by Jordan Thompson gave the Bears what seemed to be a comfortable margin at 67-56 with 48 ticks on the clock.  However, the Eagles staged a frenetic comeback bid, started when Sweeney knocked down a three pointer with 41 seconds left.  Emory then forced a WU turnover that Sweeney parlayed into a triple, drawing Emory to within five points, 62-57, with 26 seconds on the clock.  After the Bears made one-of-two free throws, a pair of makes by Weems with 22 seconds left, cut WU's lead to 68-64.   Two foul shots by Jordan Thompson, pushed WU's lead back to six points, but a clutch three pointer by Weems made it a one-possession game at 70-67.   WU finally sealed the outcome when Natalie Orr sank a pair of charity tosses with 11 seconds on the clock.  Egbuna would score at the buzzer to close out the game's scoring.

Wash U shot 45 percent (27 of 60) from the floor compared to Emory's 36.2 percent (21 of 58).  The Eagles enjoyed a decided edge in three-point shooting, draining 40 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 25) while the Bears were successful on just 26.3 percent (5 of 19).  Emory's 10 treys represented a season high.  Dynis led Wash U in scoring with 16 points.

Emory jumped out of the blocks quickly, shooting 60 percent from the floor in taking a 26-19 first-quarter lead, with Egbuna scoring eight points in the stanza, hitting all four of her field goal attempts.  The Eagles closed out the stanza on an 8-2 run over the final 2:39, highlighted by a three pointer by junior Shellie Kaniut.   The Bears bounced back with a strong second frame, outpointing Emory by a 20-9 margin.  After the Bears scored the first seven points of the quarter to knot the score, a three pointer by Kaniut, followed by a Tsao foul shot, gave Emory a 31-26 edge with 7:03 left.  However, the Eagles were able to hit just one of their next seven field goal attempts, while also being stymied by four turnovers, over the remainder of the quarter as the Bears went into halftime with a 39-35 lead.  Egbuna led Emory's first-half scoring effort with nine points while Kaniut scored all of her game total of seven points over the first two quarters.

Emory returns to action next Friday (Feb. 12) when it hosts No. 7 New York University.