Game-tying Shot Falls Short in Tartans Loss to NYU

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball game against New York University on Friday night went down to the wire with NYU prevailing, 68-63, after a pair of closing free throws with two tenths of a second remaining in the game. The Tartans are now 9-10 and 1-7 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while the Violets move to 11-8 and 4-4.

The Tartans trailed by three with possession of the ball with 12 seconds remaining but tight guarded defense forced the Tartans into two rushed three-pointers with the last falling out of bounds to the Violets. Graduate student Kaitlyn Read, who made 9-of-10 from the free throw line for the game, sank the last two to preserve the victory for the Violets.

Sophomore Makalya Filiere (Chandler, Ariz. / Hamilton) led the Tartans with 23 points with sophomore Katharine Higgins (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) scoring 15 and freshman Kylie Huffman (California, Pa. / Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic) dropping in 10 off the bench. Junior Jenn Mayberger (Chesterfield, Mo. / Cor Jesu Academy) led the squad with nine rebounds and six assists while Huffman collected four blocks, two in the last minute of play.

The Tartans trailed 34-28 at halftime but used an 11-2 run to take a 39-36 lead after a layup by sophomore Laura Ochsner (Chester Springs, Pa. / Downingtown STEM Academy) midway through the third period. NYU would tie the game twice three times in the remaining minutes of the quarter including a layup with time expiring by Read to make it 48-all heading into the final stanza.

Kayla Patterson led NYU on a 5-0 run to start the fourth and the Violets led by as many as seven with 2:41 to play before the Tartans rallied to turn on the excitement at the end. Mayberger drained a trey from the left corner to make it a two-point game, 63-61, with 1:50 to go. The Violets came up empty on three shots that took a minute off the clock before a driving layup by sophomore Laurel Pereira (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville North) was just short with the rebound falling to Read. The Violet veteran made 1-of-2 from the line to move the lead to three. The Tartans gave the ball inside to Huffman who hit a hook shot in the paint.

The Tartans were forced to foul with 13 seconds remaining and Read made both from the line before the aforementioned game-tying three-point attempts by the Tartans missed.

Read led all scorers with 24 points while Patterson finished with 21 for the Violets. Olivia Linebarger ended the game with 11 rebounds, as Read also led the Violets with six assists.

The Tartans will take on Brandeis University (11-7, 3-5) on Sunday, February 4 at home with tip set for 2:00 p.m.