Tartans Fall in Last Minutes to Point Park

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Carnegie Mellon University's women's basketball team fell to Point Park University 56-54 Saturday at Skibo Gymnasium after a back-and-forth second half. The Tartans are now 4-5 on the year as Point Park improves to 6-4.

Point Park raced out to a 9-0 lead before senior forward Jennifer Larsen (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) got Carnegie Mellon on the scoreboard at 13:30. Larsen stepped just inside the three-point line at the top of the key for the Tartans' first points.

The Pioneers' full-court press and tough defense forced the Tartans into early turnovers while the team missed its first six field goal attempts.

With the score sitting at 16-8 in favor of visiting Point Park, Carnegie Mellon went on a run that ended with the home team taking lead. The 17-0 run included three three-pointers for the Tartans. Freshman Aspen McKeever (Durango, Colo./Durango) hit two of the three-point shots, as well as a two-point jumper for eight points in the big run.

A big component for the Tartans in their run was eliminating the turnovers that plagued them to start the contest. Carnegie Mellon had 12 turnovers with under nine minutes elapsed in the game. During the run, the Tartans didn't have any turnovers with their last one occurring at 11:12. The Cardinal and Gray cruised into the half following their run with a 31-24 lead over the Pioneers.

Point Park came out of the locker room playing like the team that jumped out to an early lead forcing Carnegie Mellon to turn the ball over. Led by a 13-0 run, the Pioneers reassumed the lead, 39-36, with 13:30 left on the clock.

Five quick points from the Tartans put them back on top when freshman Chandler Caufield (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) connected from three-point range at 11:51.

Point Park would quickly retake the lead on a three-point shot of its own by Maura McCaslin. The visiting Pioneers maintained the lead and were up five, 54-49, with 3:08 remaining.

Freshman Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) turned in another strong performance for the Tartans with 19 points going five-for-eight from three-point range. McKeever dropped in a career-high 10 points while Larsen and junior Emily Peel (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) each grabbed 10 rebounds.

Point Park returned to playing strong defense down the stretch preventing Carnegie Mellon from converting on shot attempts late in the game as they were looking to make the comeback.

The women will return to the hardwood following the winter break on January 3 when they head on the road to play Allegheny College. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.