Tartans Fall Short at Home against WashU

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team hosted Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday, January 21 in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest, falling to the Bears, 83-69. Sophomore Laurel Pereira (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville North) led the Tartans, now 9-7 overall and 1-4 in UAA play, with 16 points.

Four other Tartans joined Pereira in double figures with sophomore Katharine Higgins (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) scoring 12, sophomore Laura Ochsner (Chester Springs, Pa. / Downingtown STEM Academy) 11, and junior Jenn Mayberger (Chesterfield, Mo. / Cor Jesu Academy) and sophomore Makayla Filiere (Chandler, Ariz. / Hamilton) 10 apiece. Higgins led the Tartans on the glass with six rebounds while Mayberger dished out five assists and is now second all-time in program history with 308.

The Bears (12-4, 3-2) clung to an early 8-7 lead before a 13-0 run during a three-minute and 23-second scoreless span by the Tartans, pushed their lead to 14 points, 21-7, with 4:33 to play in the first quarter. The Tartans answered with a 10-2 run to pull within six points on a trey by Pereira two minutes later.

The teams traded points the rest of the quarter and the Bears led 30-20 at the first break.

The Tartans shot just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) in the second quarter, scoring only nine points, as the Bears built a 20-point advantage by shooting 57.6 percent from the floor for the half, with 28 points in the paint.

An evenly played third quarter kept the Bears ahead by more than 20 points before the Tartans used a fourth-quarter run to pull as close as 11 points.

An 8-0 run by the Tartans, starting with a three-pointer by Filiere off an assist by Mayberger made the score 75-63 with 4:14 to play, but the Bears were able to hold off the Tartans and finished with the double-digit win.

Natalie Orr led five Bears in double figures with 17 points while Madeline Homoly scored 11 and grabbed eight rebounds. Becca Clark-Callender dished out seven assists off the bench.

The Tartans will next face New York University on Friday, January 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Hunter College.