Senior Ashley Oldshue led four Emory double-figure scorers with a game-high tying 15 points, but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball team came out on the short end of its season-opening contest to Oglethorpe University Tuesday evening at the Woodruff PE Center. The Stormy Petrels topped the Eagles in overtime by a 71-64 margin, dropping Emory's all-time record to 20-11 in season-opening contests.
In addition to her point total, Oldshue snatched a game-high 10 rebounds for her 12th career double-double. Senior Azzairia Jackson-Sherrrod contributed 14 points and eight rebounds to the cause while sophomore Blair Ripley and junior Allison Chernow added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Junior Lindsey Tse opened the scoring in the extra session with a bucket that gave the Eagles a 60-58 lead. However, Emory hit a drought where it failed to score over the next 4:10 while Oglethorpe scored 10 unanswered points to claim a 68-60 lead. The Eagles were hampered by five turnovers in the overtime while the Petrels did not have any miscues while hitting three-of-six from the floor along with six charity tosses to outpoint Emory by a 13-6 count.
The Eagles faced a 37-30 deficit with 2:24 left in the third stanza before responding with an 8-1 run, with Jackson-Sherrrod scoring four points in that stretch, to knot the score at 38-38 heading into the final frame. A three-pointer by Ripley to open the fourth continued the Emory momentum, but a 12-5 OU burst put the visitors ahead by a 50-46 margin with 4:33 remaining. Still down by four points, a bucket by Ripley narrowed the gap to two points before a clutch triple from the corner by junior Erin Lindahl pushed the Eagles to a 53-52 lead with 1:55 remaining. The teams traded buckets before OU took a 56-55 advantage with 35 seconds left courtesy of a jumper by Savannah LeGate. However, Oldshue responded with a three-point play with 11 seconds on the clock that put Emory up, 58-56. On its ensuing possession, OU it was the beneficiary of a close call that put Taylor Dodson on the line, where she calmly sank a pair from the stripe to knot the score with three seconds left. After calling a timeout to advance to the ball to midcourt, the Eagles turned the ball over on the inbounds, and since no time expired on the miscue, Oglethorpe had the last shot in regulation. However, the Stormy Petrels did not get their attempt off in time, forcing extra time.
OU held an advantage in field goal shooting, connecting on 40.3 percent (25-of-62) of its attempts, compared to Emory's 33.3 percent (22-of-66). The Eagles were more efficient from the foul line, converting 16-of-20 vs. OU's 13-of-23. Both teams recorded 44 rebounds.
Emory returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 17) when squares off against Virginia Wesleyan at the Guilford College Tip-Off Classic.