Tartans Close Year with 10-Point Home Win; Celebrate Senior Sophie Chao

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball closed its season with a 10-point home victory against Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, February 25. Two Tartans recorded double-doubles in the win, putting them at 12-13 for the year and 3-11 in the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Spartans finish with a 15-10 record and 6-8 UAA mark.

How it Happened

• It took nearly two minutes for the first points to be recorded with Case Western Reserve hitting two free throws. The Spartans would go on to lead 5-0 and 7-3 before the Tartans put together a 6-0 run to take their first lead at 9-7 six minutes in.
• Freshman Savannah Gibbs recorded seven of the Tartans' first nine points.
• The Tartans pushed their lead to eight on a three-pointer by sophomore Isha Nambisan with 49 seconds to go before CWRU scored the final four points to trail 20-16 at the quarter stoppage.
• Another triple by Nambisan gave the Tartans their largest lead at 13 points, 39-26 with 2:40 to go in the first half.
• CWRU would cut that double-digit deficit to five with an 8-0 blitz to finish the frame.
• Gibbs led the Tartans in the half with 11 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.
• Sophomore Catherine Or, who finished with 20 points, opened the second half with a layup for her fifth and sixth points of the game.
• Or later put the Tartans ahead by 11 after a 9-3 run to open the frame with Or scoring seven of the nine.
• CWRU methodically cut away at the deficit until they took the lead, 53-52, and finished the quarter with a triple, their fifth of the period, by senior Isabella Mills to lead 56-54.
• The Tartans would take back the lead on a fastbreak layup by Gibbs off an assist by Or with 7:13 to play and move on to lead by six after back-to-back buckets by Or, a three-pointer from the top of the key and a jumper in the paint after her own defensive rebound.
• Mills answered with a three-pointer and collected her 1,000th career point ahead of Preet Gill hitting a shot just outside the paint to pull within one point with 4:15 to play.
• Two second-chance buckets for the Tartans on the next two possessions extended their lead to five which they later made seven before CWRU had to foul to stay in the game.
• The Tartans made 7-of-8 from the line down the stretch to close the game for season-ending win.

For the Tartans

• Both Gibbs and Or finished with double-doubles.
• Gibbs led with two career-highs: 21 points and 14 rebounds.
• Or collected 20 points and 11 rebounds with four assists.
• Sophomore Anisha Chintala finished with three assists and two steals.
• Nambisan posted eight points.
• Senior Sophie Chao drained her sixth career three-pointer and collected one assist and one steal in her final game.

For the Spartans

• Mills finished with 28 points, hitting 5-of-10 from long range, and grabbed 11 rebounds
• Emily Plachta closed with 11 points and hit three long-distance shots.
• Sarah Mitchell scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Notes

• Or finishes the season as the sixth Tartan to average a double-double with 17.4 points and 10.9 rebounds, collecting a UAA-best 14 for the season.
• Or also set a season record for free-throw shooting with a 90.1% effort, hitting 73-of-81 attempts. She topped Stacie Aleski's record of 85.5% (47-55) set in 2006-07.