No. 9 Tartans Fall Short Against No. 11 WashU in UAA Showdown, 78-72

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team hosted Washington University in St. Louis in a battle of top-ranked teams Friday, January 27 with the 11th-ranked Bears coming out on top, 78-72. The ninth-ranked Tartans are now 15-2 on the season and 4-2 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while the Bears hold an identical record.

Senior Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) led all scorers with 32 points while senior Jackie Hudepohl (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook (Colgate)) was second in the category with 25 points. Murphy also grabbed 11 rebounds for her 13th double-double and 11th straight. Hudepohl finished with eight boards, three assists and two blocks.

Hudepohl made her first two shots of the game including a three-pointer that put the Tartans up 5-2 early. The Bears then scored the next seven points and held a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Bears stretched their lead to as many as nine in the second quarter. A 6-0 spurt for the Tartans pulled the home team to within two points, 29-27, after freshman Laurel Pereira (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) converted a free throw with 1:31 to go. Jenn Dynis then scored four straight for the Bears before Murphy closed out the first-half scoring with a layup to bring the Tartans deficit to 33-29 at the break.

Murphy gave the Tartans their first lead since the opening minute when she scored inside and followed it with a free throw to put the Cardinal and Gray up 42-39 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

The two teams would trade points the remainder of the quarter with Becca Clark-Callender draining a pull-up jumper for the Bears with two seconds left to tie the game at 55-all.

Neither team would lead by more than three through the first five minutes of the final period with a jumper in the paint by Hudepohl tying the game for the 14th time at 64-64 with 5:01 to go.

The Bears answered Hudepohl's score with a 6-0 run and despite two more jumpers in the lane by Hudepohl the Tartans couldn't overcome the deficit as the Bears finished the final five minutes making 4-of-6 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line.

Madeline Homoly led the Bears with 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Natalie Orr scored 16 points. Dynis and Zoe Vernon each scored 13 with Vernon and Lily Sarros each grabbing 10 boards.

The Bears finished with a plus-five rebounding edge and shot 42.4% from the floor to 39.1% for the Tartans.

Carnegie Mellon will next host the University of Chicago (11-6, 4-2) on Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m. while the Bears travel to Case Western Reserve University (11-6, 3-3) on Sunday.