Tartans Top La Roche 58-57 in Overtime

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team pulled its record to 6-6 with a 58-57 overtime win at home against La Roche College (10-4) Tuesday night in non-league action. Freshman Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) scored on three straight possessions late in regulation to give the Tartans the lead before La Roche tied it for the last time at 49-49 with a minute to play.

Freshman Aspen McKeever (Durango, Colo./Durango) hit the first bucket in overtime when she drained a shot from behind the arc off an assist from senior guard Alex Hansen (Westlake, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy). Junior Emily Peel (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) scored a layup on the Tartans' next possession before sophomore Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) hit a turn-around jumper in the lane to give the home team a seven-point lead with three minutes to play.

La Roche then answered with eight straight points to take a 57-56 lead with just under a minute to go.

Senior forward Jennifer Larsen (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) was able to convert a put-back layup with 23 seconds to play for the go-ahead basket as the team held on for the win.

In the last five minutes of regulation, West gave the Tartans a spark off the bench by converting two straight driving layups and burying a three-pointer from the right side.

Earlier in the half, Shaw scored seven of her nine second-half points while Peel scored six points and grabbed 11 of her career-high 20 rebounds.

Despite shooting 31.2% from the floor to the Tartans 50%, La Roche was able to stay in the game by scoring 34 points off 32 Tartan turnovers. However, the free throw line plagued the Redhawks who missed all three attempts in the final seconds of regulation and finished 3-of-9 from the stripe for the game.

Shaw scored a game-high 15 points as Peel dropped in 14 to go with her 20 rebounds. West also scored in double figures with 12 points as Hansen tallied four assists on the night.

The Redhawks were led by Casie Cygan's and Jessica Pitts' 15 points apiece and Ja'Nia McPhatter's 11 points. Pitts also grabbed nine boards while Ariel Green and Chloe Stewart dished out three assists each.

The Tartans will remain at home for a two-game slate over the weekend when #2 University of Chicago visits Skibo Gym at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and #8 Washington University comes to Pittsburgh on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.