Career Day by West Propels Tartans to UAA Victory over Case Western

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - A career day by sophomore Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) propelled the Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team to an 82-76 victory over Case Western Reserve University in the University Athletic Association opener for both teams. West tied a school record with seven made three-pointers as she led the Tartans (9-3, 1-0) with a career-high 24 points.

The Tartans led by three at the break and went on to win their ninth game after holding the halftime advantage.

West gave the Tartans the lead for good at 50-49 with 13:54 to play with her second of three straight three-pointers for the half.

Holding a two-point advantage after a three-pointer by Case's (8-4, 0-1) leading scorer Evy Iacono, senior Emily Peel (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) scored on a put-back after senior Tori Baggio's (Coopersburg, Pa./Springside) driving layup rolled off the rim to quiet the visitor's come-back attempt.

The Tartans finished the final three minutes with 10 points and were solid from the line down the stretch scoring 6-of-6 with four coming from junior Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant).

The first half saw 13 lead changes as the Tartans used ten offensive rebounds to score 16 second chance points including a three-pointer by sophomore Chandler Caufield (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) which gave the home team a 36-35 lead with 1:33 to go. The trey finished a seven-point stretch by the sophomore guard and was assisted by Peel after she grabbed an offensive board. Caufield's spurt also helped the Tartans finish the half with an 11-4 run to lead 40-37 at the break.

West hit four three-pointers in the first half, helping the team to a 60% shooting effort from behind-the-arc for the period and her seven treys capped off a 52.4% effort for the game.

Peel was second in scoring behind West with 19 points as Caufield finished with a season-high 13 while freshman Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) dropped in 10. Peel led on the boards with 14 as Shaw picked up eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Caufield also tallied four assists while Baggio grabbed five rebounds and assisted on three baskets off the bench.

The Tartans grabbed 52 boards to the Spartans' 34 to maintain their season rebounding edge of over 13.

Iacono finished with a career-high and school record 38 points after making 15-of-33 attempts and six from long range. Erica Iafelice tallid nine assists while Brooke Orcut led on the boards with eight.

The Tartans will next face Brandeis University (7-5, 1-0) on Friday, January 11 in Waltham, Mass. at 6:00 p.m.