Women’s basketball loses games versus UAA rivals

The Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team played two University Athletics Association (UAA) games this weekend: one on Friday, Feb. 9 versus Emory University, and another on Sunday, Feb. 11 against the University of Rochester.

Friday’s game against the Emory University Eagles was a thriller, decided in the final seconds. For the Tartans, sophomore Katharine Higgins led the team scoring 21 points.

Sophomores Laurel Pereira and MaKayla Filiere each dropped 12 points. Sophomore Laura Ochsner led the team with nine rebounds and three steals, while junior Jenn Mayberger’s team-high four assists brought her to 328 assists in her career, a new school record.

The Tartans opened the game scoring seven straight points, including the first five by Pereira and the final 13 points all coming from free throws.

The Tartans stayed on their hot streak for the rest of the first quarter with two more runs of 7–0 and 6–0 giving them a 22–11 lead at the break.

The Eagles began the second quarter with five points to quickly cut the Tartans’ lead to six. Unlike the first quarter, the second was relatively balanced with neither team dominating play. The Tartans led the game 39–30 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Tartans led by as much as 12 points, but the Eagles slowly began to inch their way towards the lead. A three-pointer at the buzzer brought the Eagles within three points with the score now 52–49.

Within the first minute-and-a-half of the fourth quarter, the Eagles tied the game at 54–54. The visiting team scored four straight points for a 58–54 lead, but the Tartans soon tied the game again. This continued throughout the quarter with the Eagles taking a small lead only for the Tartans to tie. With a minute left in the game and the Tartans down by two, missed shots by Filiere and Higgins gave the ball back to the Eagles who sealed their win with a layup with seven seconds left in the game.

The Tartans and the Eagles had similar field goal percentages, 39.1 percent and 40.3 percent, respectively.

However, the Eagles benefited from three times as many assists, twice as many second chance points, and 17 bench points to the Tartans’ six.

On Sunday afternoon, the Tartans faced off against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets at Skibo Gymnasium, falling 70–53.

Filiere led the team in points, scoring 21 points, with 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter, She also added five steals. Ochsner led the team with seven rebounds.

In the first quarter, the Yellowjackets started quickly, jumping to an 11–4 lead. The Tartans played poorly in the quarter, shooting only 23.5 percent, and trailed 20–12 going into the first break.

The Yellowjackets maintained their momentum in the second quarter, building their lead to 21 points with a 17–4 run. At the end of the quarter, a three-pointer from sophomore Megan Jaeb cut the Tartans’ deficit and made the score 40–16 going into the half.

Unlike the first half, the third quarter was much more balanced, with the two teams trading baskets. However, the Tartans were not able to build enough momentum to spark a comeback run.

Trailing 56–34 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Tartans’ improved immensely on their efficiency, shooting 43.8 percent from the field. However, that was not enough to stop the fast-paced Yellowjackets offense, who held their lead to win 70–53.

The Tartan’s overall shooting percentage averaged to 39.1 percent, not far off the Yellowjackets’ 40.3 percent. The Yellowjackets recorded three times as many assists, twice as many second chance points, and 17 bench points to the Tartans’ six.

The Tartans will travel to the University of Chicago to play the Maroons on Friday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m.