Tartan Women Return to Court with 81-50 Victory Against Westminster

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team defeated Westminster College in its first game in 30 days by a 81-50 scoreline behind four players in double figures. The Tartans are now 8-1 on the season while the Titans fall to 1-8.

Freshman Zoe Zawisa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) led the Tartans to a 39-27 halftime advantage with nine points off the bench. With 6:42 to go in the first period, the Tartans led by just three points after a three-pointer by Westminster's Rachel Durbin made the score 24-21.

On the next possession, senior Chandler Caufield (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) drained a three-pointer which ignited a 15-6 run by the home squad to close the half. Zawisa scored six of her nine points during the run.

Sophomore Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) didn't let limited touches and just two points in the first half stop her from reaching double-digits for the ninth time this season. She started the second half with a layup and finished the 20 minutes making seven of eight attempts to tally 18 total points. It was then Murphy who gave the Tartans their largest lead of the game (39 points) with two free throws with 3:12 to play.

Junior Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) finished with her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds while junior Lindsay Poss (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) and freshman Anna Novak (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) each contributed eight rebounds, a career-high for Novak. Offensively, the Tartans recorded assists on 71.9% of their baskets with Poss and Novak dishing out a career-high seven and six assists, respectively.

Caufield connected on four-of-seven from behind the arc for 12 points while Poss finished with 11 points.

For the game, the Tartans shot 49.2% from the floor compared to the Titans' 30.5%. The home squad also outrebounded the visitors 50-26 and scored 17 second chance points.

Carnegie Mellon will next take the floor at Franciscan University on Saturday, January 3 at 1:00 p.m. before finishing its non-conference schedule at Baldwin Wallace College on Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m.