Women’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaking Overtime Contest at #9 Emory University

(ATLANTA, Ga.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team traveled south to play the 9th-ranked Eagles of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia Friday, January 17.  In the University Athletic Association (UAA) showdown, the Tartans drop a heartbreaking 70-68 overtime decision.  Carnegie Mellon is now 9-4, 0-2 while the Eagles stay perfect with a 13-0, 2-0 record.

With the Tartans trailing 15-9 five minutes into the game, the visitor's rattled off seven straight to claim a 17-15 edge with 12:17 in the half.  During the stretch, freshman Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) scored four of her 14 first half points while senior Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) capped the run of with a three-pointer.

The lead was not held for long, as Emory's Khadijah Sayyid connected on a trey and then stole the ensuing inbound pass and scored on a layup giving the lead back to the Eagles at 20-17 with 11:44 to play. Emory led the rest of the first half, as the Eagles built the lead to 10 (33-23), but Carnegie Mellon closed the half scoring four straight points to cut the lead to 33-27 at the break.

Carnegie Mellon came out of the locker room and scored the first five points extending its run to 9-0 dating back to the 1:39 mark of the first half before pushing its run to 16-2 to claim a 39-35 lead with 15 minutes to play in the second half.  

The rest of the second half saw eight lead changes with neither team leading by more than three points.  Carnegie Mellon took a 60-57 lead with 45 seconds left in the half on a pair of made foul shots by sophomore Lindsay Poss (Poolesville, Md.). Emory then knotted the score at 60-60 on a trey by Savannah Morgan with 4.7 seconds on the clock.  On the inbound pass there was a tie-up which gave possession back to Emory.  

The Eagles had a chance to win it in regulation as Sayyid was fouled and sent to the stripe with 0.1 seconds on the clock, but the sophomore missed both attempts sending the game into overtime.

In overtime with the score tied at 68-68 and Carnegie Mellon with possession, junior Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) had a great look at the basket with three seconds left. Her three-pointer hit the front of the rim and Emory's Morgan was fouled on the rebound sending the senior to the line with 0.7 seconds left.  Morgan connected on both shots from the charity stripe to give the home team the 70-68 overtime victory.

Murphy led the Tartans in scoring with her second 30 plus point performance of the season tying her career-high with 36.  The freshman ended the game 12-of19 from the field and converted 12-of-14 from the foul line. Murphy also led all rebounders with 14 rebounds to record her fourth double-double this season.  Poss was the only other Tartan in double figures as she tallied 11. Sophomore Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn.) hauled in 12 rebounds in the setback while dishing out a game-high six assists.

Morgan led the Eagles with 22 points while Sayyid and Hannah Lilly cashed in with 11 and 10 each.

The Tartans will continue UAA play on Sunday, January 19 when they travel to Rochester, New York to play the Yellowjackets of University of Rochester.  Tip is set for 2:00 p.m.