Hard Fought Battle Falls Short in 76-64 loss to Washington University
Stats
Jan. 21 – (ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis, Mo. Sunday, January 21 and played host to the Bears of Washington University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. After a hard fought battle the Bears came away with a 76-64 victory.
After trailing by seven early, Carnegie Mellon (6-10, 0-5) found themselves down two (14-12) with 11 minutes left in the first. Washington University (12-4, 4-1) went on a 9-0 run that put them on top 21-12, but the Tartans stepped up their game and pulled within six (27-21) on a lay-up by sophomore Stacie Aleski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) at the 4:59 mark in the first stanza.
Senior Ashley Mazziotta (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) hit a trey from the top of the arc with 19 seconds left to make the score 34-30 in favor of the home team. WU would add a lay-up at the buzzer to head into the break with a 36-30 advantage.
The Tartans fell 16 points behind during a six-minute drought that led to a 57-41 lead for the Bears with just over ten minutes to play in regulation. Carnegie Mellon shortened the Bears lead to 61-50 with 7:03 to play, but that was as close as they chipped into the Bears lead, as Washington’s high powered offense lifted them to a 76-64 victory.
The Tartans had a season-low 14 turnovers in the loss, while pulling in 33 rebounds. Carnegie Mellon’s shooting drought came to an end as they shot 10-of-22 (46%) from behind the arc including a 4-of-6 performance by Aleski.
Junior Leah Feola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Canevin Catholic) led the Tartans with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, recording her first career double-double. Aleski cashed in with 14 points, while Mazziotta and sophomore Ashley Rothwell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Alvernia) had 11 and 10, respectively. Senior post Rebecca Parker had a monster day for the Bears, adding 18 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
The Tartans continue UAA play, as they host Emory University Friday, January 26 and Case Western Reserve Sunday, January 28. Game times are set for 6:00 p.m. Friday and 2:00 p.m. Sunday.
