Tartans Receive Bid to 2016 Division III Women’s Basketball Championship

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team received an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship after finishing the regular season with a 19-6 record. The bid is the Tartans third in program history and first since 1990-91.

The Tartans, who finished third in the University Athletic Association (UAA), will face Hope College, winners of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association on Hope's home court on Friday at a time to be determined. The winner will face the winner of Ohio Northern University and Denison University on Saturday.

Leading the Tartans is junior Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) who is tops in the nation with a 75.2% field-goal percentage and ranks second in scoring with 23.7 points per game. The center has posted 13 double-doubles for the season and averages 11.2 rebounds a game. She leads the UAA in scoring, rebounding and blocks per game with 1.9.

Fellow junior Jackie Hudepohl (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook (Colgate)) is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds a game. The junior guard is shooting 45.2% from the floor and dishes out 2.9 assists a game while blocking 1.2 shots per game.

Seniors Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and Lindsay Poss (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) both average 12.9 points per game with Poss pulling down 6.9 rebounds a game and Otto collecting 4.6 rebounds a game. Rounding out the starting five is freshman Jenn Mayberger (Chesterfield, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) at the point. The freshman leads the UAA in assists per game with 5.4, as she set a new school single-season record with 134 thus far.

The Tartans closed the regular season with the third most wins in school history at 19. Along the way, the Tartans had the best start in school history at 13-0 and entered the national rankings for the second time in school history.