Tartans Relinquish Lead in Fourth, Fall to #18 UChicago, 61-58

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team nearly pulled off a second straight win against a ranked opponent on Sunday, January 18 when they hosted 18th-ranked University of Chicago. The Tartans led until seven minutes and 3o seconds to go in the fourth quarter, falling 61-58 to move to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Maroons advance to 10-3 and 2-1.

How it Happened

• The Tartans shot 53.3% in the first quarter and caused five turnovers by the Maroons to hold an 18-12 lead.
• Junior Allie Heyer and freshman Niyati Bangalore hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Tartans late in the quarter to give the Tartans their largest lead at eight points.
• Despite cooling down to 47.3% shooting in the second period, the Tartans were able to build their lead to 16 points before the Maroons closed the frame on a 7-0 run to make it 40-31 in favor of the Tartans at the break.
• The Tartans had a balanced scoring attack in the first half with eight different players scoring. Senior Nicole Timko led the group with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
• Three-point shooting contributed to the Tartans' lead in the first half, as they shot 6-of-9 (66.7%) with freshman Aleena Dinker leading with two made from behind the arc. Dinker also had four assists in the half.
• An evenly-played third quarter had the Tartans ahead by 10 points after Bangalore hit a jumper at the buzzer to make it 51-41.
• UChicago turned things around at the start of the fourth quarter, causing five early turnovers by the Tartans and took a 52-51 lead with 7:30 still to play.
• A made jumper by senior Savannah Gibbs pulled the Tartans to within one point at 56-55 with three minutes to play.
• UChicago went ahead three points on a layup by Alexis Clark and later led by five on two free throws by Chris Sanders with 20 seconds to go.
• Gibbs hit a triple with three seconds to go but the Tartans needed to foul and after Sanders made the first free throw to make it a three-point lead, the next attempt was missed but the desperation half court shot to tie it was missed.

Tartan Stats

• Gibbs led with 14 points and eight rebounds.
• Timko finished with 13 points while Dinker closed with 11 points. Both had four assists.

Maroon Stats

• Annabelle Spotts led with 16 points and Sanders finished with 13.
• Kasi Samuda tallied 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Up Next

The Tartans travel to the University of Rochester on Friday, January 23 for a 7:30 p.m. contest before flying to Atlanta, Georgia, to face Emory University at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 25.