Three Double-Doubles Not Enough as Tartans Fall to Brandeis

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team hosted Brandeis University on Friday, January 16 for its second University Athletic Association (UAA) contest of the year. The Judges prevailed with a 67-60 victory sending the Tartans to 9-3 on the year and 1-1 in the UAA.

The Tartans opened the game with three treys by senior Chandler Caufield (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) in the first five minutes to take a 13-4 lead. That advantage then stretched to 18-9 following a three-pointer by junior Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) off an inside-out pass from sophomore Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean).

The Judges rallied for an 8-0 run to make it a one-point advantage for the Tartans with 7:34 to play in the half before freshman Zoe Zawisa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) hit another shot from outside, with another assist given to Murphy, to stop run, and put the Tartans back up by three.

The Tartans never trailed for the first half, leading 30-28 at the break, as Murphy broke a 28-28 tied with a minute to play.

Caufield  hit her fourth trey of the night right out of the break and Murphy followed with a lay-up to give the Tartans a 35-28 lead.

The Tartans would hold the lead until the 12-minute mark when Paris Hodges scored on a lay-up to give the Judges their first lead of the night, 45-44.

The three ball came into play again for the Tartans when Otto drained one from the baseline to tie the score for the third time, 54-54, with just under five minutes to play.

With 2:29 to play, the Judges took the final lead on a jumper by Hodges, making the score 59-57. They went on to make 4-of-5 from the free throw line, including a crucial three-point play by Sydney Sodine with 1:05 to go which put the Judges up 64-58, as they went on to the 67-60 victory.

Murphy led the Tartans with 19 points and 12 rebounds as junior Lindsay Poss (Poolesville, Md /Poolesville) talllied 12 points and 13 rebounds. Otto also finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tartans will next face No. 8 New York University (13-0, 2-0) on Sunday, January 18 at 2:00 p.m.