CMU basketball teams take tough losses this weekend
Both the men’s and the women’s basketball teams lost to the University of Chicago in two very different games.
The women’s basketball team had a hard time holding the floor against the University of Chicago Maroons, who took the lead five minutes in and never surrendered it. The Tartans had a tough time executing on offense, and only made 36 percent of their shots as opposed to their season average of 44 percent. After jumping out to a 5–2 lead, Carnegie Mellon surrendered three layups and a three pointer in a 9–2 run, and that was the final lead of the night. Excellent free-throw shooting from Chicago contributed to a first half that the Tartans could not recover from. By the break, the Maroons led 47–29. The second half went better, but it was not enough to mount a comeback against Chicago.
The win came in spite of continued stellar play from first-year forward, Lisa Murphy. She put up 22 points while shooting very well from the free throw line (10–13) and hounded both the offensive and defensive glass, finishing with 14 rebounds. Junior guard Gabrielle West also had a great second half after a shaky first half. She scored 12 points, all from distance, in the second half alone. They were two bright spots in what turned into a brutal, 88–69 loss, continuing the team’s up-and-down performance in conference play.
The men’s basketball team was more successful, but ultimately did not fare better after taking a 65–64 loss in a nail biter.
A rough start in which Carnegie Mellon shot 1–10 from the floor allowed Chicago to get off to a 14–3 lead as the game began, but that was the first in what seemed like an endless series of runs.
The teams traded runs until, by the break, the Maroons had jumped out to a 37–31 advantage. The second half was similar. Runs of 9–2 and 8–0 eventually put the Tartans ahead of the Maroons 54–53 for their first lead of the night with just over seven minutes remaining.
The lead was extended to five and, with four minutes left, the Tartans had their largest lead of the night. The lead held until the Maroon’s junior guard Royce Muskeyvalley hit a dagger to give the Maroons the 65–64 advantage with 1.4 seconds remaining. Senior guard Rashaun Riley’s answer was just too long and the Tartans came away with a loss.
Senior guard Christian Manoli hit the turnaround jumper to give Carnegie Mellon its first lead of the night and continued his shooting streak, scoring 23 points and leading the charge for a Carnegie Mellon team that very nearly came away with a conference win.
On Sunday evening, the teams took the court at home against the Washington University Bears. Both teams suffered losses.
The women’s team lost 71–63 to the Bears, who are currently the number two team in their section, and the men’s team lost 94–81 to the eighth ranked men’s team.
Both teams have had a tough time in conference play and look to right the ship next Friday when they host the New York University men’s and women’s teams at 8 p.m.