Tartans Soar Past Penn State Altoona 94-46

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Junior Emily Peel's (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) career performance of 32 points and 16 rebounds guided the Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team to a 94-46 victory over visiting Penn State Altoona Sunday, December 4.  The win moves the Tartans record to 3-4 while the Lions drop to 2-6.

With 18:40 to play in the first half, Peel scored her first of many layups on the afternoon giving the Tartans a 4-3 lead, as they never looked back from there. Carnegie Mellon led 19-11 before scoring 10 straight points making it an 18 point contest at the midpoint of the first half.

Carnegie Mellon led by 23 at the break, 52-29, but took its largest lead of the half (46-23) following a three-pointer by freshman MacKenzie Boyd (Plano, Texas/Plano West) with just under three minutes to play. As the teams went into the locker room Peel led the way scoring 17 of her career-high while freshman Gabrielle West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) had a solid first half as well.  The freshman scored 12 of her career-high 19 points including draining a pair from behind the arc.

The Tartans came out in the second half and started where they left off.  The home team scored the first 18 points and maintained control the rest of the way winning 94-46.   

The Tartans shot 51.5% from the floor to the Lions 31.3%.  The home team dominated the boards 50-20, including 22 offensive rebounds that they turned into 20 points. Carnegie Mellon also scored 43 of its points of 32 Lion turnovers while the Lions scored 11 points off 19 Tartan turnovers.

Peel ended the game shooting 50% (10-20) from the floor while converting 12-13 from the charity stripe.  The senior also added a season-high four blocks while 11 of her 16 rebounds came on the offensive side.  Besides scoring a career-high, West recorded a career-high seven steals.

Sophomore Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) chipped in with 16 points on a perfect 8-8 performance from the field. Senior Jennifer Larsen (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) recorded a career-high 11 rebounds in the victory.

The Tartans will host Oberlin College on Friday, December 9.  Tip is slated for 7:00 p.m.