The Emory women's basketball team, playing its first game at the Woodruff PE Center since Dec. 11, came out on the short end of a University Athletic Association contest to Case Western Reserve. The Spartans won for the eighth straight time and raised their overall record to 12-3, 4-0 in the league, following a 71-57 decision over the Eagles who slipped to 10-5 overall, 1-3 in the conference.
Case Western got off to a blazing start, leading by as many as 16 points before closing out the first stanza with a 24-11 lead. CWRU shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the floor during the opening 10 minutes and was led in scoring by Hillary Hellman's 10 points. Hellman would finish the contest leading all players with 19 points. Emory hit just 33 percent (3-of-9) of its field goals and was hampered by 10 turnovers in the first quarter.
The Spartans kept their double-digit lead for the majority of the second quarter, with the Eagles getting as close to nine points at 28-19 after a three-point field goal by junior Allison Chernow. Six straight points by the visitors extended their margin to 15 points before a jumper at the buzzer by Azzairia Jackson-Sherrod narrowed CWRU's cushion to 36-23 heading into the break.
After each team totaled 20 points in the third frame, the Eagles still faced a 13-point hole heading into the final quarter. Emory scored the first five points of the stanza, with Jackson-Sherrod hitting a bucket, followed by a three-point play from Chernow, to climb to within eight points with 8:58 left on the clock. After a Case bucket, Emory continued its comeback bid as a layup by senior Oldshue and a pair of charity tosses by Chernow cut the Spartans' edge to 58-52 with 5:57 remaining. Emory stayed within six points after a basket by Jackson-Sherrod with 3:22 left, but four straight points by Case pushed it back to a double-figure cushion. Oldshue kept Emory alive with a basket with 90 ticks left, but the Spartans sealed the outcome by accounting for seven of the game's final eight points.
Case outshot Emory from the floor, 45.5 percent (25-of-55) to 30.6 percent (19-of-62) and registered a 41-38 edge in rebounding. Oldshue led the Emory with 16 points and 11 rebounds, her third double-double of the campaign. Oldshue was successful on six-of-13 field goal opportunities and four-of-four from the stripe en route to notching her 14th double-figure scoring performance of the season. Jackson-Sherrod, Chernow and junior Erin Lindahl all contributed 10 points.
Emory returns to action Sunday afternoon when it hosts Carnegie Mellon at 2:00 pm.