#15 Tartans Collect Road Win at Brandeis, 65-58

#15 Tartans Collect Road Win at Brandeis, 65-58

(WALTHAM, Mass.) – The inside-outside combination of senior Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) and freshman Makayla Filiere (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) led the 15th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team to its seventh road win of the season when it topped Brandeis University, 65-58, on Friday, January 13. The win moves Carnegie Mellon's record to 12-1 overall and 1-1 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while the Judges fall to 9-4, 1-1.

Filiere and Murphy both tallied 18 points with 12 of Filiere's coming from behind the arc, as she hit a career-best four three-pointers. Murphy also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to record her seventh straight double-double. Senior Jackie Hudepohl (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook (Colgate)) scored 14 points and dished out five assists in her first game back after missing three straight.

Carnegie Mellon converted five of its first six shots during the first four minutes of play to grab a 14-5 lead. Brandeis then held the Tartans without a field goal over the remainder of the first quarter and pulled to within a point at 14-13 at the close of the first 10 minutes by converting 3-of-4 from the floor, including two from long distance, in the last two minutes.

Brandeis came out in the second quarter and continued to have the hot hand. The Judges led 24-20 before Carnegie Mellon scored six straight, as freshman Laurel Pereira (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) connected on back-to-back jumpers to give the visitor's a 26-24 advantage with 5:33 to play in the half.

Both teams struggled to score in the last half of the second period, as the Tartans held a 29-28 lead at the break.

The Tartans scored on their first two possessions of the second half when Murphy and Filiere each put in a shot to extend the team's advantage to five points, 33-28. Brandeis answered with a 6-0 run before Carnegie Mellon took back the lead on a made three-pointer by Filiere with 5:38 remaining in the quarter.

Carnegie Mellon's final six points of the quarter came from the free throw line and they held a slim 44-42 lead going into the final period.

Again, the Tartans scored the first four points of a period and led by six with 5:17 to go in the game. Twice the Judges pulled within one point but back-to-back layups by Murphy with fewer than two minutes to play put the Tartans ahead 63-58. Hudepohl assisted on both baskets and grabbed a defensive rebound before sinking two free throws to end the scoring.

The Judges held the Tartans to their lowest field-goal percentage of the season at 38.6%, including 33.3% in the second half. A strong showing from the free throw line in the second half made up for the struggle from the field, as the Tartans finished 16-of-18 for the game.

Brandeis was led by Maria Jackson's 13 points while Paris Hodges and Sydney Sodine each scored 10, as the team shot 30.2% from the floor.

The Tartans will next face New York University (10-3, 0-2) on Sunday, January 15 at 1:00 p.m. in New York, N.Y., on the campus of Hunter College.