The Emory University women's basketball pulled out a gutsy come-from behind 80-76 win over No. 23 ranked Rhodes College Saturday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center.
Junior Claire Brock had her second consecutive 24 point game for the Eagles and also contributed four rebounds and three steals. Senior Tori Huggins improved upon her conference leading 58% three point shooting by going 2-2 from beyond the arc for 13 total points as well as five rebounds and two blocks. Junior Mariane Auza was a force off of the bench pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds including six offensive boards and she led the team in assists with four. For Rhodes, Alexys Mathangani led the team in scoring with 14 points on 5-8 shooting from the field.
The Eagles greatest strength for the day was capitalizing off of Rhodes mistakes. Emory forced Rhodes into 17 total turnovers and the Eagles scored 24 points off of those turnovers. Emory did a good job of protecting the ball finishing the game with only eight turnovers and an impressive 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. Both teams got to the line often, shooting a combined 53 free throws between the two, with the Eagles finishing with a 74.1% from the charity stripe.
The entire game was marked by runs as both teams held a double digit lead at different points. The Eagles held a two-point edge halfway through the first quarter before closing the quarter on a 12-4 run highlighted by some outstanding shot creation from Brock as she contributed eight of the 12 points in the run. Despite Emory holding a ten point lead in the first quarter, the Lynx came roaring back in the second quarter only trailing by one going into the half. The Lynx picked up right where they left off in the third quarter, blitzing the Eagles to the tune of a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the Eagles ate into the Lynx lead with gritty defense and trip after trip to the free throw line thanks to smart drives from the Emory guards. Trailing by one with under a minute left, freshman Daniella Aronsky had the play of the game stealing the ball off an inbounds pass by Rhodes and then dribbled it down the court for a layup to give the Eagles a lead they would cling to for the remainder of the game.
The Eagles take a small winter break for finals and the holidays before they return to action on December 29th to take on the Generals of Washington & Lee University.