Tartans Win Fifth Straight, Top Wittenberg, 62-53

(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team won its fifth straight game by defeating Wittenberg University on the road Tuesday, January 6, by a 62-53 score. The Tartans are now 8-3 for the season while the Tigers drop to 8-5.

How it Happened

• There were 13 lead changes with Wittenberg taking its last lead of the game with 5:10 to play in the fourth quarter.
• That one-point advantage by the Tigers was short lived as the Tartans answered with a layup by freshman Nisha Musunuri.
• After a layup by sophomore Payton Baney put the Tartans up by three, Wittenberg cut it to one with a basket with 3:53 to play.
• Senior Savannah Gibbs hit two clutch free throws with three minutes to go to start an 8-1 run over the next two minutes to keep the Tartans in control.
• Senior Nicole Timko scored 10 of her 15 points in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter making all eight of her free throw attempts.
• The Tartans led by one at halftime after making 41.7% of their shots but just 2-of-9 from the charity stripe.
• Wittenberg took a three-point lead going into the final frame after outscoring the Tartans 15-11 in the third frame.
• Free throws made the difference in the fourth quarter as the Tartans were 14-of-19 while the Tigers were just 1-of-4.

Tartan Stats

• Timko led with 15 points while Baney scored 14.
• Baney led with eight rebounds while Gibbss finished with eight points and five assists.

Tiger Stats

• Karsen Karlblom led with a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds.
• Molly Mossing had 11 points.
• Karlblom also had five steals and four assists while Madi Barnett had five assists.

Up Next

The Tartans will host Case Western Reserve University to open the University Athletic Association (UAA) schedule on Saturday, January 10 at 3:00 p.m.