Box Score CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Chicago women's basketball team had its five-game win streak snapped by a hot shooting Carnegie Mellon University team in an 84-77 loss on Friday.
The Maroons fell to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the UAA. The Tartans improved to 12-11 overall and 3-9 in conference.
Carnegie Mellon's Lisa Murphy made her presence felt early and throughout the game. The 6-foot-1 freshman clogged the lane, preventing easy looks inside and blocking shots. Murphy swatted four shots in the first half and six for the game. UChicago then turned to its outside shooting, attempting 16 three-pointers in the first half and making seven. Senior guard Maggie Ely led the team by hitting 3 of 4 from deep to end up with nine points at the break.
Sophomore guard Paige Womack also got into the action by making a pair of threes to give the home team a 22-19 lead. Six of UChicago's first eight field goals were three-pointers.
As the half progressed, Carnegie Mellon started to catch fire offensively. Junior Gabrielle West was the catalyst, nailing 5 of 6 threes on catch-and-shoot opportunities in the opening 20 minutes. She tallied a team-high 15 points by the time halftime rolled around.
The visitors led 41-37 at the break while shooting 51.9 percent from the field. UChicago shot 41.2 percent on field goals, but led the rebounding battle 22-12. Along with Ely's nine points, Womack and junior guard Claire Devaney added six points each.
The second half started sloppy. The Maroons turned the ball over on their first five possessions to boost their game total to 16 turnovers. While UChicago's offense struggled to get looks against Carnegie Mellon's zone defense, West was at it again with two more treys to push the Tartans' lead to 56-43. The Maroons then went on an 11-2 run with a pair of threes by Womack and one by junior forward Ellie Greiner.
Carnegie Mellon led by eight points with just over four minutes remaining in the game despite more sharp shooting from distance by UChicago. But five-straight points by Womack and five-straight points by freshman forward Britta Nordstrom tied the game at 75-75. Nordstrom canned two more free throws at 77-77 in the final minute. The Tartans then scored a layup on the other end and closed out the game on a 7-0 run.
The Maroons narrowly edged the Tartans on the boards 29-28. UChicago set a season high in three-pointers made (14), but also allowed 10 Carnegie Mellon treys. Both teams had trouble with turnovers, combining for 49 on the night (25 by CMU and 24 by UChicago). The visitors recorded a season-high 56.9 field goal percentage.
UChicago Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 45.9 percent (28-61)
Three-point Percentage – 45.2 percent (14-31)
Free-throw Percentage – 77.8 percent (7-9)
Paige Womack (Guard, So.) – 21 points
Britta Nordstrom (Forward, Fr.) – 13 points
Julie Muguira (Guard, Sr.) – 10 points, 7 rebounds
Carnegie Mellon Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 56.9 percent (29-51)
Three-point Percentage – 45.5 percent (10-22)
Free-throw Percentage – 94.1 percent (16-17)
Gabrielle West – 23 points
Jacquie Shaw – 19 points
Lisa Murphy – 18 points, 6 blocks, 4 rebounds
NEXT GAME:
- Sunday, Feb. 23 – Case Western Reserve University at UChicago, 2 PM