Women’s Basketball Drop Hard Fought Battle in Emory

(ATLANTA, Ga.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team traveled to Atlanta, Ga. for a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest against the Eagles of Emory University.  The Tartans dropped a 59-55 decision to move to 6-9, 0-4 while Emory improves to 12-3, 3-1.

The Tartans started the game making three of their first four baskets taking a 6-0 lead two minutes into the contest.  Emory's Hannah Lilly drained two straight from behind the arc knotting the score at 6-6 with 16:38 to play in the half.

Carnegie Mellon held a 23-22 edge before the Eagles rattled off eight straight to take the lead with 8:29 to play in the first.  Although, the Tartans answered Emory's spurt with six straight of their own, the Eagles continued to lead the rest of the half taking a 37-33 lead into the break.

At the break, junior Emily Peel (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) led the Tartans with 11 points shooting 5-6 from the floor while Lilly led the Eagles with 18 points including connecting on 4-6 from behind the arc.

Emory came out in the second half and grabbed a 43-35 lead, but the Tartans went on a 12-1 run over a six minute stretch to take a 47-44 advantage with 12:19 to play in the game.  During the run, freshman Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) connected on two from behind the arc while senior Jennifer Larsen (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) had two layups.

The Tartans held the Eagles without a field goal over a ten minute stretch before Emory scored five straight points, a jumper by Misha Jackson and a trey by Lilly, to grab a 49-47 lead at the 6:40 mark.  

The home team led 52-47 before West ended the Tartans stretch of ten minutes without a field goal of when she hit a three-point bucket to cut the lead to 52-50 with 3:26 left in regulation.  Lilly answered West with a trey pushing the Eagles lead back to five at 55-53, but West then answered Lilly on the next trip down the court with another three making the score 55-53 with 2:50 left.  

The Eagles held a 57-55 edge and two clutch foul shots by Jackson in the closing seconds preserved the 59-55 victory for Emory.

West led the Tartans with 15 points going 5-10 from long range.  Peel ended the game with 13 points while sophomore Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) and Larsen chipped in with 10.  The Tartans held the edge on the boards 37-33 with Larsen leading the way with a career-high 12 for the visitor's. Larsen also dished out a career-high six assists.

Emory was led by Lilly's 26 points as she ended the game going 6-11 from behind the arc.

The Tartans will continue UAA play Sunday, January 22 when they travel to Rochester, New York to face the fifth-ranked Yellowjackets at 2:00 p.m.