The Emory University women's basketball team broke the hearts of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans on an alley-oop buzzer beater to give the Eagles a 68-66 win Friday evening in the Woodruff PE Center.
The Eagles (9-2, 1-1 UAA) pulled off the stunner against the Tartans (9-4, 0-2 UAA) on a beautifully drawn up play with 0.5 seconds left on the clock that saw senior Mariane Auza get free for a wide open look at the basket to earn Emory the win in the thriller.
Auza scored five points including the pivotal buzzer-beating layup and was a menace on the defensive end garnering two steals and a block to go along with multiple other play-disrupting deflections.
Senior Claire Brock led the Eagles in scoring as she notched 22 points, marking her seventh game of the season crossing the 20-point threshold, including a tidy 3-for-7 mark from beyond the arc. Sophomore Daniella Aronsky continued to prove that she is more than just a passing threat as she put up a career high 18 points thanks to a monstrous 5-for-6 shooting night from deep. Coming off the bench, junior Izzy Munson came up big down the stretch scoring some clutch baskets late as she led all Emory bench scorers with seven points. For the Tartans, Catherine Or recorded a double-double scoring 21 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
The Eagles registered their best shooting percentage from three point land on the season shooting 45.8% which was the major difference in the game as the Tartans could muster only 28.6% shooting from beyond the arc. Emory continues to be one of the top assist teams in the nation registering 17 assists in this contest, four more than Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans were able to stay in the game thanks to their superior shooting from two-point land as they shot 42.6% from two while the Eagles only managed to register a mark of 30%.
A back-and-forth start to the contest saw the Tartans take the first multi-possession lead of the game late in the first quarter thanks to a 9-0 run that allowed Carnegie Mellon to take an 18-15 lead into the first intermission. The Eagles dominated the opening stanza of the second quarter going on an 18-4 run with the bench unit doing the bulk of the damage for Emory. Despite leading by as many as 11 the Tartans were able to cut into the lead as they trailed 35-30 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the two teams trade blows as each team registered a 10-0 run in the fast paced period resulting in a narrow 53-50 lead for the Eagles as the two teams entered into the final quarter.
A tight, low scoring fourth quarter saw the two teams trade the lead four-times in the first seven minutes. With the crowd roaring and the game's pace slowing, Brock hit an instrumental and-1 layup that gave the Eagles the lead putting them up 62-60 with 3:13 remaining. A minute and a half later Aronsky hit the final of her five threes to put Emory up four, giving them a two-possession lead with just a little over a minute left on the clock. The Tartans would cut the lead to two on a couple of free throws and then manage to regain possession on a late Eagles turnover with just two seconds left in the game.
A well designed play saw the Tartans' Megan Matsko shake free for an uncontested jumper that tied the game with just 0.5 seconds left on the clock. With one last chance to prevent overtime, Auza was able to take advantage of a miscommunication from the Tartan defenders as two players went to guard Brock at the three point line, freeing Auza up for an uncontested alley-oop layup at the rim that rattled around and fell in giving the Eagles their first conference win of the season.
The Eagles return to the court on Sunday when they are set to take on the Case Western Reserve Spartans in the Woodruff PE Center at 2:00 PM.