The 25th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team started University Athletic Association (UAA) play with an 85-61 victory at Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, January 9. The Tartans, now 12-0 on the season, won their second straight game by 24 points.

The game began with a 13-2 run for Tartans as they made four-of-five from the field with junior Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) draining four free throws.

A 10-2 run by Case made it 15-12 in favor of Tartans before senior Lindsay Poss (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) and junior Jackie Hudepohl (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook (Colgate)) sandwiched a three-pointer by CWRU with a trey of their own before Hudepohl hit the last basket of the quarter with 1:14 to play, as the Tartans led 23-15.

The Tartans started the second quater with a 9-3 run to lead 31-18 with 7:26 left. Poss scored five or her 15 first-half points during the run. A three-pointer by sophomore Anna Novak (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) with 2:45 to go gave the Tartans a 15-point advantage before the Tartans led 47-36 at the break.

Case Western Reserve opened the second half with a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to seven. The Tartans responded with an 11-1 run to push the lead to 18 points before Hillary Hellman stopped a Spartan draught with the team's first basket from the floor in more than six minutes with 1:46 showing on the clock.

A fastbreak layup by freshman Jenn Mayberger (Chesterfield, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) off her own steal gave the Tartans their first 20-point advantage with a minute to play in the third quater as the Tartans went on to lead 67-51 before the final 10 minutes of action.

The Tartans would lead by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter while Murphy scored 10 of her game high 33 points in the final period.

Murphy finished with her sixth double-double of the season with 13 rebounds and made 13-of-16 from the free throw line to go with her 10 baskets from the field. Poss finished with 17 points while senior Liza Otto (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and Hudepohl each scored 13 behind a 51.6% team shooting effort from the field. The team recorded 21 assists with Mayberger picking up 11.

CWRU was led by Hellmann's 14 points off the bench as Kara Hageman picked up 13 and Laura Mummey was held to five points on 2-of-14 shooting.