Tartans Drop First Game of Season at Mount Union

Tartans Drop First Game of Season at Mount Union

(ALLIANCE, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team traveled to the University of Mount Union for a weeknight contest, falling 57-32, to the now 5-0 Purple Raiders. The Tartans fall for the first time this season and are now 6-1.

Junior Laurel Pereira (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville North) led the Tartans with 11 points while junior Katie Higgins (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Tartans led 9-4 late in the first quarter before Mount Union ended the final 2:23 on a 7-2 run which they transitioned into a 12-2 run 28 seconds into the second quarter, for a 16-11 advantage.

A 7-0 run by the Tartans gave them back the lead at 18-16 before the lead switched hands three more times with the Purple Raiders leading at the half, 26-21.

Twenty-one points at the break was the lowest of the season through the first 20 minutes for the Tartans. Mount Union took 13 more shots than the Tartans but a 10-for-11 performance from the free throw line kept the Tartans close as the half ended.

The Tartans had trouble finding the hoop all evening, making just eight shots from the field for the game, but especially struggled in the second half, shooting 3-of-27, and scoring just 11 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Purple Raiders scored the first eight points of the third quarter and finished with nine three-pointers.

The Tartans will next host Allegheny College on Saturday, December 8 at 2:00 p.m.