The Emory University women's basketball team made history Friday night earning its first-ever victory over Washington University on the Bears home floor, with the Eagles taking the game 81-66.
With the win, the Eagles maintain their position of second place in the UAA standings at 7-3 (13-6 overall), trailing first-place NYU by two games with four games to go. Following the defeat, WashU dips to a tie for third at 6-4 and now stands 12-9 on the year.
Junior Claire Brock led the way for the Eagles with a team-high 26 points on 5-9 shooting from three as well as a team leading five assists. Brock has now scored 26 points on back-to-back occasions and helps the Eagles move to 5-1 in games where she has scored 20 or more points. Senior Anna Arato matched her season high, scoring 22 points on an efficient 9-17 shooting night and also contributed five rebounds. Senior Tori Huggins did much of the dirty work for the Eagles, pulling down a team-leading 10 rebounds as well as accumulating a steal and a block. Off the bench, freshman Daniella Aronsky was a defensive ace generating three steals and also led all bench unit players with nine points.
Friday night's win marks the first win by an Emory squad at WashU in 32 chances as well as the first time the Eagles have swept the season series with the Bears. Emory shot a blistering 50% from behind the arc which was a large part of what helped propel the team to the win. The Eagles pressured WashU into 20 turnovers which the team promptly turned into 22 points. Another area of advantage for the Eagles was their playmaking, where Emory led WashU by a margin of 21 to 14.
The Eagles set the tone early with junior Mariane Auza generating two steals on the Bears first two offensive possessions of the game. The Bears would not be deterred early though as the first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that would see these two teams head into the second quarter tied at 12 points apiece. Another tightly contested quarter saw the game tied at 29 with just over a minute to play in the first half but the Eagles closed the half strong, with Aronsky and Brock each hitting a three to give Emory a six point lead heading into halftime. The Eagles would stretch the lead to 10 early in the third quarter with the trio of Brock, Arato, and Huggins all pitching in. The Bears would cut the lead down to two points in the third quarter but that would be the closest they would get to a lead for the rest of the game. The defensive pressure and three point prowess of the Eagles proved too much for the Bears as Emory would put the game away with free throws down the stretch.
After defeating them at home 55-47 earlier this season, the Eagles will travel to Chicago, IL for their rematch against the Maroons of Chicago on Sunday at 2:00 PM CST.