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The Emory women's basketball team closed out the 2009-10 season this afternoon, rallying from a pair of significant double-figure deficits before falling at the University of Rochester.  The Eagles saw their record fall to 10-15 overall, 3-11 in the University Athletic Association after dropping a 67-62 decision to the Yellowjackets who saw their record go to 19-6 in overall play, 9-5 in the conference.

Emory senior Whitney Martin and sophomore Melissa Koike tied for game-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece with Martin picking off a team-high five boards.  Sophomore Becca Feldman rounded out the team's double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Rochester shot 38.2 percent from the field (21-of-55) while Emory finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58).  Both squads shot well from the charity stripe with Emory knocking down 21-of-24 attempts while UR was successful on 22-of-28 tries. 

Emory scored the first basket of the game but went the next eight minutes without a field as Rochester took what seemed to be a commanding 21-4 lead with 11:08 left in the opening stanza.  The Eagles then stunned the home Rochester crowd with its own 23-4 blitz, keyed by nine points from Martin, to take a 27-25 lead at halftime.  Over the last 10:53 of the first half, Emory forced six Rochester turnovers while the Yellowjackets converted just one-of-12 from the floor in that stretch.

After Emory scored the first basket of the second half, Rochester fought back to tie the contest at 30-30 following a three pointer by Melissa Alwardt.  Emory trailed by just two points, 35-33, after Koike made one-of-two foul shots, but a 12-1 Rochester run gave the home club a 47-34 bulge with 10:54 left.  Just as in the first half, the Eagles battled back, holding Rochester scoreless for three minutes while registering eight unanswered points to creep to within five points, 47-42, with 7:42 remaining.  The Yellowjackets held a 51-44 advantage before Emory surged ahead, 54-53, with 4:08 left after a 9-0 scoring run.  A pair of free throws by Feldman knotted the slugfest at 55-55 with just 2:09 on the clock, before seven straight points by UR gave it a seven-point margin, 62-55, with 49 ticks on the clock.

Jodie  Luther led Rochester with 11 points while Alwardt notched 10 points along with a game-high nine rebounds.