Case Western Reserve University senior Abbey Lawrence scored a game-high 21 points and junior Isabella Mills added 16 points, but it was not enough for the Spartans, who suffered a 64-58 loss to Carnegie Mellon University in the teams' University Athletic Association opener in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon.

The loss ended a stretch of back-to-back wins for the Spartans, who fell to 5-7 overall on the season, while the Tartans raised their record 7-3 for the campaign.

Lawrence shot eight-of-19 overall and connected on two-of-four three-point attempts, while adding six rebounds, a steal and a block. Mills scored 11 of her 16 in the second half of the game, shooting six-of-15 overall and four-of-nine from behind the three-point line, while collecting seven rebounds, four steals, an assist and two blocks. Sophomore Preet Gill had a career-high 10 rebounds in the game, while sophomore Kayla Characklis added four points, nine rebounds and a team-high four assists.

The Spartans led by as many as eight points in the opening quarter, taking a 10-2 advantage with 4:27 left in the period on a jumper by Lawrence. However, the Tartans closed the gap to two points by the 1:29 mark, before a pair of free throws at the end of the period by Gill put CWRU in front 14-10 heading into the second quarter. Carnegie Mellon opened the second period on a 12-0 run, taking a 22-14 lead with 4:23 left in the half, and went on to lead by as many as 11 in the period before taking a 35-26 lead into halftime.

With the Tartans leading by 10, 49-39, with 2:15 to play in the third quarter, the Spartans closed out the period on a 7-2 run, pulling back within five points on a layup by sophomore Sarah Mitchell with 20 seconds left in the quarter. Lawrence opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to pull CWRU back within three points, as close as the Spartans had been since the 5:52 mark in the second quarter. However, the three-point margin would be as tight as the game would be the rest of the way with the Tartans increasing their lead back to double-digits, with 2:45 to play, 62-51. A 7-2 run to close out the game helped CWRU trim the deficit to just six by the final buzzer, but it would be too little too late for the Spartans.

CWRU finished the game shooting 35.0% overall, but shot 41.2% from three-point range, the team's third-highest mark this season.

The Spartans will continue UAA play next weekend, traveling to New York University on Friday, January 14 for an 8:00 p.m. matchup, and to Brandeis University on Sunday, January 16 at 2:00 p.m.