Sophomore Savannah Morgan led five double-figure scorers with a career-high tying 19 points in leading the Emory women's basketball team to a big win over No. 8-ranked Washington University on Sunday.  The Eagles raised their record to 14-6, 5-4 in the University Athletic Association following an 82-72 decision over the Bears who slipped to 16-4 overall, 6-3 in the conference.

Morgan closed out the afternoon converting seven-of-13 from the field, including two-of-four from three-point range, and three-of-four from the foul line in registering her ninth double-figure scoring performance of the campaign.  Morgan also doled out seven assists and came up with a pair of steals in 36 minutes of action.  Also playing key roles in the win were sophomore Hannah Lilly and senior Melissa Koike, each of whom picked up 15 points with Koike's effort representing a season high.  Juniors Misha Jackson and Danielle rounded out the squad's double-digit scorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively.   Koike and Jackson tied for team honors with seven boards in helping Emory to a 46-33 edge in the rebounding department. 

Both teams finished with nearly identical marks in field goal shooting with Emory checking in at 44.3 percent (31-of-70) while the Bears posted an effort of 44.8 percent (30-of-67).  The Eagles knocked down 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from beyond the arc compared to the visitor's performance of 33.3 percent (8-of-24)

Behind 12 points from Landry and 10 points from Koike, the Eagles took a 41-29 lead into intermission, as they converted 45.9 percent (17-of-37) of their field goal attempts while holding the Bears to 39.3 percent (11-of-28).   With the game tied at 6-6, Emory used an 18-5 scoring spree over a 9:07 span to bolt to a 24-11 advantage with 9:13 left in the half.   Five different players scored in that stretch for Emory with Lilly and Koike both sinking triples while posting five points.  Emory would lead by 13 points on two other occasions over  the remainder of the half, the last time with 2:33 left in the stanza when a jumper by Morgan gave it a 33-20 cushion. 

After the Bears picked up the first basket of the second half, back-to-back treys by Lilly and Koike extended Emory's margin 47-31.   Another score by Morgan with 18:17 on the clock allowed the Eagles to maintain their 16-point advantage.  However, WU began to chip away at the gap, using an 11-4 spurt, capped by a three-pointer by Dani Hoover, to draw to within nine points with 14:54 left.  After a three-point play by WU's Melissa Gilkey cut Emory's lead to six points, Lilly answered with a three-pointer that pushed the Eagles' lead back to nine points, 69-60, with 7:55 on the clock.  However, the Bears scored eight unanswered points, with Hoover and Bethany Morrison hitting shots from distance in that run, that sliced Emory's lead to one point with 6:29 remaining.  However, a foul shot by Jackson followed by a timely three pointer from senior Becca Feldman put Emory ahead by a 73-68 count.  After a Wash U. bucket, Morgan knocked down a trey that gave Emory a 76-70 lead with 2:54 left.   A basket by Hoover  with 2:25 kept the Bears within striking distance, but Emory held WU scoreless the remainder of the game while scoring the contest while scoring six points to nail down the win.


Emory returns to action on Friday (Feb. 10) when it hosts New York University  in a 6:00 p.m. start.