Otto’s Jumper In Closing Minute Leads to Tartans Victory at Rochester

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team traveled to Rochester, New York, to play the Yellowjackets of the University of Rochester Sunday, January 19. Sophomore Liza Otto's (Glastonbury, Conn.) jumper with 31.9 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner in the Tartans 71-70 victory.  Carnegie Mellon improves to 10-4, 1-2 as Rochester is now 7-7, 1-2. The win marked the first for the Tarants in 14 years at Rochester.

Carnegie Mellon used an 11-3 run early in the contest, ending on a three-pointer by sophomore Amanda McHenry (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville), to grab its first lead at 16-15 with 13 minutes to play in the half.  Rochester answered scoring eight straight over a 3:46 stretch to regain the lead at 31-24 with 5:27 on the clock.

Like the Yellowjackets, the Tartans answered, scoring 12 of the next 13 points and led 36-32, but Rochester closed the half scoring five straight and led 37-36 at the break.  After 20 minutes of play, junior Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) led the Tartans with 13 points as she converted 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

Rochester led 47-40 early in the second half before the Tartans rattled off 10 straight to take a 50-47 lead with 13:51 to play in the game.  During the run, four different Tartans scored with freshman Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) capping it off with a layup.

The Tartans held the lead for the next 10 minutes before Rochester used a 9-1 run and took a one-point lead at 65-64 with 2:55 remaining.  From there the lead changed hands five times with the last coming off the hands of Otto with 31.9 ticks left in the contest.  

The Tartans finished the game shooting 43% from the floor while Rochester shot 34%. Four Tartans finished in double figures with West leading the way with 18. Otto ended with 13 followed by Murphy and senior Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) with 12 and 11, respectively. Murphy recorded a game-high 16 rebounds to record her fifth double-double of the season.

Katie Weiner led the Yellowjackets with 15 points while Danielle McNabb had 13 and Ally Zywicki ended with 12.

The Tartans will continue University Athletic Association play on Friday, January 24 as they entertain the University of Chicago.  Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. against the Maroons.