Or Leads Tartans to Fourth Straight Home Win

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team hosted the University of Chicago on Friday, February 14 and maintained its second place hold in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 60-57 victory. The Tartans are now 17-4 overall and 7-3 in the league, while the Maroons are 13-8 and 3-7 in the conference. 

How it Happened 

• Junior Savannah Gibbs converted a three-point play with a layup and free throw to give the Tartans an 11-4 advantage 3:37 into the game.
• UChicago then scored 11 straight points to take a 15-11 lead before senior Catherine Or scored the final five points of the frame with a jumper and a three-pointer to give the Tartans a slim 16-15 lead.
• After the Maroons scored the first basket of the second quarter, junior Ava Arias drained a three-pointer and the Tartans would go on to hold the lead the rest of the frame, leading by as many as six points on two occasions.
• There were four lead changes in the third quarter with the Tartans scoring the last basket at the buzzer with a turnaround jumper from freshman Payton Baney off an offensive rebound.
• Baney, Gibbs, and Or scored all of the third quarter points with Baney dropping in six, Gibbs four, and Or four.
• The Tartans extended their lead to five points three minutes into the final quarter but the Maroons rallied for seven straight to take a 49-47 lead with four minutes to go.
• Back-to-back baskets by Or and Gibbs gave the Tartans back the lead although it was brief, as Bella Alfaro hit a three-pointer for the Maroons.
• Or and Maroon senior Sophia North would trade a pair of points each with a jumper by North giving the visitors a 57-55 lead with 28 seconds to play.
• Or immediately scored on a layup and hit the foul shot for a three-point play and the lead with 24 seconds to go.
• North missed a jumper on the baseline following a time out and senior Isha Nambisan grabbed the board and sank two free throws for a three-point cushion for the Tartans with eight seconds to go.
• North's three-pointer with a second left bounced off the iron and the Tartans won their fourth straight home game.

Tartan Stats

• The Tartans shot 25-51 (49.0%) from the floor, 3-of-13 (23.1%) from behind the arc., and 7-of-17 (41.2%) from the free throw line.
• Or finished with 24 points while Gibbs had 12 and Baney eight.
• Baney led with 10 rebounds while senior Anisha Chintala had three assists and three steals.

Maroon Stats

• The Maroons shot 21-of-61 (34.4%) from the floor, 9-of-22 (40.9%) from behind the arc, and 6-of-8 (75.0%) from the free throw line.
• Alfaro led with 24 points, as she hit 5-of-7 from behind the arc.
• North finished with 11 points, scoring eight in the final quarter.
• Bri Simpson contributed 11 points off the bench.

Notes

Or is now third all-time in scoring with 1,458 points. She trails CMU Hall of Famers Kassie Segmiller (1978-82) and Lisa Murphy (2013-17) who tallied 1,595 and 2,306 points, respectively. 

Up Next

The Tartans will look to sweep the season series against Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday, February 16 at 12:00 p.m.