Box Score

Demorest, GA - The Lady Lions continued their dominance in 2011, extending their win streak to six games to start the season with a 81-72 victory over visiting Emory University.  Still undefeated, the women held off a resilient EU team, taking a nine-point win at home.  Senior Sada Wheeler led Piedmont with a game-high 24 points, as well as 14 rebounds.  Two other Lady Lions reached double figures in scoring, including junior Alyssa Jones and senior Amber Satterfield with 19 and 15 points respectively on the afternoon.
 
Piedmont held a 10 point lead at the half, going into the locker room with a 39-29 line.  However, the visiting Lady Eagles wouldn't go quietly, making good on four 3-pointers and 43 total points in the second half.  Though the Lady Lions won the game in the opening half, Emory edged Piedmont by one in the closing half.
 
The home team started out with a bang, with a bucket from Wheeler and a Satterfield trey to go up 5-0 early.  The two teams traded baskets for most of the next 10 minutes before Piedmont went on a 14-4 run, putting them up 28-15 with just over six minutes left in the opening half.  However, the Lady Eagles responded late in the stanza with a 10-3 run to pull within 10 going into intermission.
 
Wheeler's basket at the 13:36 mark in the second half gave Piedmont a comfortable 53-39 lead.  Emory then posted a 7-0 run that made it interesting, narrowing the gap to seven points.  For the next eight minutes, the game remained tight, ranging from Piedmont leading by 10 at the most and seven at the least.  The last stand for Emory came in the game's final minute.  With 49 seconds left and down by eight, the Lady Eagles got a long-distance three from Savannah Morgan to make it a five-point game.
 
The obvious ploy was for Emory to continue to foul and send the Lady Lions to the line in a desperation attempt to take the game.  But Jones made sure that didn't happen, converting on five freebies in the closing 30 seconds to seal the win for Piedmont.  Jones went 9-for-13 on the day at the charity stripe, adding five boards and a few assists.
 
Senior Shanice Wheeler played a key role in the non-conference win, tallying eight points, five rebounds and five assists, while junior Keiondra Thompson was a similar triple threat with six points, six boards and four assists.  Emory was led by four women in double-figures.  Hannah Lilly led the Lady Eagles with 19 points, highlighted by three 3-pointers.
 
Piedmont notched its third season in a row with at least a six-game win streak, and look to make it seven in a row tying last season's longest mid-season run  when they take on nationally-ranked Greensboro College at Toccoa Falls College next Saturday at 2:00.  The game is being played at Toccoa due to Piedmont's winter graduation taking place in the Mize Athletic Center.