The women’s basketball team finished its weekend with a victory in the Tip-Off Tournament hosted at Emory, capturing its first two wins of the season. This is Emory’s third straight Tip-Off Tournament Championship. Emory’s defense held the Lady Scots to a season-low 30 points in the second half. The pair of wins boosted the Eagles’ record to 2-2 on the year.

“We have never lost a game in the history of an Emory tournament,” senior co-captain Whitney Martin said. “That was a big deal for us — we didn’t want to lose that record. I think that gave our team a lot more confidence.”

Emory faced Covenant College (Ga.) on Saturday and came away with a 73-61 win to clinch the Championship. Martin led the scoring for the Eagles with a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Not far behind was senior center and co-captain Keenan Whitesides with 15 points in the game.

“Whitney, Keenan and Mary [Smith] are playing how you’d want your seniors your play,” Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty said. “They’re playing aggressively and leading the team.”

The duo scored a combined 17 points during a 21-5 scoring run in the first half to lift the team to a 27-14 lead with 7:25 remaining.

“We just wanted to be more aggressive than we have been,” Thomaskutty said. “We got to the rim; we got them in foul trouble and I think that was the difference in the ball game.”

The Eagles’ lead would soon diminish as Covenant went on a 15-2 scoring run of its own to tie the game at 29-29 with a little more than three minutes remaining. The Lady Scots’ scoring run was sparked by senior guard Brinkley Knowles, who scored a third of Covenant’s 15 points. Covenant also was able to score almost half of its 15 points from the foul line, shooting six for seven from the white line during its run.

“We lost our focus,” Thomaskutty said. “Everyone on our team is in a new role and sometimes I think we just get out of what is successful for us.”

But the Eagles’ offensive stepped it up once again with an 11-2 scoring rally to finish the half ahead 40-31. Sophomore guard Becca Feldman scored four of the Eagles’ 11 points during the stretch. Feldman came in with 13 minutes remaining in the first half and finished the game with a career-high 11 points. The Eagles had a 42.5 shot percentage, while the Lady Scots finished the first half at 37 percent.

During the second half, Emory stayed in the lead for the full 20 minutes, with its largest cushion of 15 points at 7:14 minutes remaining and its smallest lead of six points with only two minutes left in the game. The Eagles finished off the Lady Scots with a three-point field goal from sophomore point guard Sally Peterson and four foul shots from both Peterson and senior guard Smith to end the game with a 73-61 win. Covenant’s record fell to 1-3.

“One of our goals as a team before the game was to play with energy and to play for 40 minutes,” Martin said. “That is something that we really picked up this weekend and we did well.”

On Friday, Eagles defeated Millsaps College (Miss.) by a score of 74-59 for their first win of the season. Junior center Elizabeth Brandt and freshman center Danielle Landry each recorded 11 points in the game to lead the Eagles. The Eagles finished the first half with a 32-29 lead after making 36 percent of their shots. In the second half, Emory’s offense turned up the heat. The team had an 11-0 scoring stretch, shutting down the Majors.

The Eagles also improved their shooting percentage in the second half to 48.4 percent, finishing with a combined 42.9 shooting percentage.

“Our defense was creating our offense,” Thomaskutty said. “We just got better looks at the basket and then converted them.”

Though Emory held Millsaps to a 24.6 shot percentage in the contest, Thomaskutty knows that her team still has room to improve.

“Our Achilles heel in both games were offensive rebounds,” she said.

The Eagles have the momentum and confidence to continue their winning streak, but defeating their next opponent, Maryville College (Tenn.) will be no easy task.

“Maryville is by far the best quality team we’ll play so far,” Thomaskutty said. “We need to limit their second chance opportunities.”

Emory looks to take down Maryville College (Tenn.) tonight at 6 p.m. at the Woodruff P.E.Center.

— Contact Gina Chirillo.