Junior Khadijah Sayyid totaled 13 points along with a career-high tying 15 rebounds in sparking the Emory women's basketball team to a win at No. 23-ranked Rhodes College on Monday.
The Eagles won for the fifth time in the past six contests and raised their record to 8-3 following a 73-61 decision over the Lynx who saw an eight-game win streak snapped while dropping to 10-2 on the year.
Sayyid's effort represented her third double-double of the season with her rebound total tying the 16th-highest individual game mark in program history. She concluded the contest sinking four-of-11 from the floor, including a pair of three pointers in four attempts, and three-of-four from the charity stripe. Sayyid had plenty of help on the day with sophomore Michelle Bevan chalking up a career-high 13 points, 11 coming in the second half, and four rebounds. Freshman Dumebi Egbuna rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with a season-high 12 points while registering a season-best 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. All 10 Emory players who saw action found their way into the scoring column while nine came away with rebounds.
Emory set the tone for the game with a solid first-half performance, spreading out its scoring attack en route to taking a 35-25 lead at halftime. Nine Eagles scored in the stanza, led by Sayyid and Egbuna, both of whom tallied six points. Sayyid also helped the Eagles to a 26-21 edge in rebounding in the half with six boards. The Emory reserves played a key role during the opening 20 minutes, registering a 17-3 scoring advantage over the Lynx subs. The Eagles trailed by a 7-5 margin before stunning Rhodes with a 28-4 run that saw them sink four triples, including back-to-back treys by Sayyid, in bolting to a 30-11 cushion with 4:25 left. Rhodes battled back with a 14-5 spurt over the remainder of the stanza, capped by a three pointer by Erin Deery in the waning moments, slicing its deficit to 10 points. Emory hit 42.8 percent (12-of-28) of its opening-half field goal tries compared to Rhodes' mark of 24.3 percent (9-of-37).
Emory never let Rhodes get closer than eight points in the second half, answering several Lynx comeback attempts with key buckets and some timely defense. A triple by Deery drew Rhodes to within a 38-30 margin early in the period before Emory answered with an 11-5 spurt, with both Bevan and Egbuna scoring four points in that stretch, that boosted its lead to 49-35 with 12:07 on the clock. A pair of charity tosses by Sayyid, extended the Eagles' advantage to 60-44, but the Lynx made one last charge, rattling off seven unanswered points that cut Emory's lead to 60-51 with 5:25 remaining. However, Emory countered with six straight points as a result of baskets by Bevan, Egbuna and Sayyid that pushed the score to 66-51. After a pair of Lynx free throws, the Eagles sealed the outcome by scoring seven of the game's next nine points, boosting their advantage to 73-55 with 1:59 left in the contest.
For the game, Emory shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor compared to 26.3 percent (20-of-76) for Rhodes. The Eagles were efficient from three-point range, converting 45.5 percent of their opportunities (5-of-11) while Rhodes struggled, sinking just 22.7 percent (5-of-22). The Eagles claimed a big advantage in rebounding, pounding the glass for a season-high 58 rebounds with Rhodes finishing with 40 caroms. In addition, Emory picked an opportune time to shoot a season-high 74.1 percent from the foul line, knocking down a season-high tying 20-of-27 attempts.
Emory returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 10) when it opens University Athletic Association play at the University of Rochester.