From University of Chicago Athletics
With Friday's 70-51 league win over visiting Carnegie Mellon, the No. 11 University of Chicago women's basketball team clinched sole possession of the University Athletic Association title to earn the Maroons' sixth conference championship in program history.
Sophomore Mia Farrell led the the way with 16 points, four rebounds and three steals, classmate Taylor Lake added 12 points and nine boards and junior forward Olariche Obi chipped in 10 points, six boards, six steals and three blocks in the effort. The Maroons (21-2, 12-0) remained perfect in league play with two games left and won their 19th-straight contest.
A back-and-forth first quarter led to a slight 23-17 advantage for the hosts, but two buckets by the Tartans (9-13, 1-10 UAA) brought CMU to within two, 21-23, at the 8:19 mark of the second quarter.
That's when Farrell took over, draining a 3 from the top of the key and then forcing a steal and finishing the coast-to-coast layup on the other end to push the Maroons back up by seven, 28-21. She wasn't finished, connecting on a driving layup with a foul, and her ensuing free throw made it 31-23 UChicago with less than five to play before the half.
Sophomore Jamie Kockenmeister finished the second period with a triple with 22 ticks left to give UChicago a 38-23 lead at the break. Defense and steals were the name of the game in the first half, as the hosts forced the Tartans into 12 turnovers via eight steals and scored 17 points in the process.
Miranda Burt hit a trifecta early in the second half to stall a small Tartan run, and CMU would not come closer than 10 points in the third quarter, as UChicago finished the frame up, 54-39. The Maroons built their largest lead of 19 with 9:02 left in the fourth on a Burt layup.
UChicago forced CMU into 24 total turnovers while committing just seven, scoring a total of 27 points off those Tartan miscues. The Maroons' bench was also strong, outscoring CMU 16-6, though Carnegie Mellon outrebounded (48-37) the hosts.
Shooting-wise, UChicago shot 38.4 percent (28-of-73) from the floor comparted to 33.9 percent (20-of-59) for the Tartans.
Burt finished with nine points, senior Elizabeth Nye had eight points, four assists and three steals off the bench and Kockenmeister added seven points and four boards.
Laurel Pereira led Carnegie Mellon with 13 points and Katharine Higgins and Makayla Fillere had 12 each.