Tartans Strong First Half Doesn't Hold in 58-52 Setback to Chicago

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team dropped a 58-52 decision to the University of Chicago on Sunday in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans are now 9-7 on the year and 3-4 in the UAA, as the Maroons improve to 10-7 and 3-4.

Carnegie Mellon shot 38.2% from the floor to the Chicago's 35.3% but the Maroons were able to convert 18-of-23 from the foul line and the Tartans managed to get to the stripe just nine times and converted seven of their attempts.

The Tartans were led by freshman Catherine Or's (Los Angeles, Calif. / Marlborough School) 11 points. Or also led the Cardinal and Gray with nine rebounds and six assists. Senior Caitlyn Clendenin (Bethesda, Md. / Bethesda Chevy Chase) ended the game with nine points while junior Divya Seenivasan (Bridgewater, N.J. / Rutgers Preparatory School) tied a career-best with eight pints in the setback.

Mallory Brodnik led the Maroons with a game-high 21 points with Klaire Steffens also scoring in double figures with 14.

Chicago scored the first four points of the contest and then Carnegie Mellon scored 12 straight over a five-minute span to take a 12-4 advantage and led 12-8 at the close.

The momentum carried into the second quarter as the Tartans converted 8-of-12 from the floor and held the Maroons to 4-of-13. With 3:25 remaining in the second quarter, Seenivasan connected on a layup to give the Tartans their largest lead of the contest at 28-15. The first half came to an end with Chicago scoring five of the last seven points as the home team took a 30-20 lead into the break.

A 13-3 run by Chicago opened the third quarter of play and made the score 33-33 four minutes into play. The Tartans answered with six straight points which then turned into a 10-3 run and led 43-36. The Maroons didn't go away and pulled within one possession, 47-44, heading into the fourth.

The final quarter of action saw Chicago outscore the Tartans 14-5 and hold on for the 58-52 victory.

Carnegie Mellon will next travel to St. Louis to play Washington University on Friday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. CT.