Tartans Cruise Over Cougars 88-47

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team extended its win streak to three games with an 88-47 victory over Chatham University on Sunday, December 30 to close out the first semester of the season. The Tartans (8-2) shot 48.6% from the field and held the Cougars (1-9) to 24.5%.

The Tartans took charge of the paint, scoring 24 points inside for the first half as senior forward Emily Peel (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) led with 10 points and grabbed five offensive rebounds. That trend continued as the Tartans finished with 54 points inside the paint.

Chatham kept the game close through most of the first half and tied the game at 24-24 on a three-pointer by Anna Shashura before the Tartans closed out the final eight minutes on a 17-8 run to take a 41-32 halftime lead.

Carnegie Mellon extended its lead to 23 points in the first five minutes of the second period scoring 14 straight with freshman Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) scoring six of her career-high 19 points.

Peel dropped in 14 points in the second half to tally a season-high of 24 points while grabbing nine rebounds and picking up a career-high six steals. Otto recorded her second straight double-double with another career-high of 13 boards.

Freshman Mathea Tenwalde (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) shot 4-of-6 from the field for 11 points while freshman Amanda McHenry (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville) scored eight points off the bench.

The Tartans will continue their season at Baldwin Wallace College (5-6) on Tuesday, January 2 in Berea, Ohio at 7:30 p.m.