The Case Western Reserve University women's basketball trailed for less than 90 seconds over the first three quarters of its University Athletic Association opener against Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, but the 23rd-ranked Tartans ultimately proved to be too much for the Spartans, coming from behind and pulling away in the fourth period for a 69-63 win at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

The Spartans fell to 5-6 overall and to 0-1 in UAA play with the loss while the Tartans picked up their 11th win in 12 contests this season and improved to 1-0 in conference contests.

Sophomore guard Mya Hartjes led a quartet of Spartans in double figures with 15 points on a six-of-18 shooting effort, while adding six rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a career-best four steals. Junior guard/forward Emily Plachta added 14 points and four rebounds, while senior forward Evie Miller registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocks, and sophomore forward Maura Schorr contributed 10 points off the bench.

The Spartans scored the first seven points of the game and 12 of the first 13, going ahead 12-1 at the 5:02 mark on one of two three-pointers by senior guard Nyah Moore during the stretch. The 11-point lead was the Spartans' largest of the period and was matched in the closing seconds of the frame as a free throw by Plachta put CWRU in front 19-8 heading into the second period. Carnegie Mellon opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to cut the Spartans' advantage to four points, 21-17, with 5:55 left before a three-pointer by Plachta with 5:21 to play stopped the run. CWRU continued to lead for the remainder of the first half and took a nine-point edge, 33-24, into halftime.

CWRU found itself ahead 39-31 with 6:54 left in the first half before a 12-0 run gave the Tartans their first lead of the game at the 4:13 mark in the third. The Tartans quickly increased their lead to four points, but back-to-back baskets by Miller evened the score at 43-43 with 2:45 on the clock in the third and CWRU regained the lead on a long two by Plachta with 2:08 left, and the Spartans ended the period on a 10-1 run to carry a 49-44 advantage into the final frame.

Carnegie Mellon scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 49-49, and the game remained within a possession over the next five minutes before the Tartans scored eight-straight points to take a 63-57 lead with 2:54 to play. The Spartans could not get closer than four points for the remainder of the game, as Carnegie Mellon went on to secure the six-point win.

The Spartans outrebounded the Tartans 37-26 in the loss and finished the game shooting 40.4% (23-57) overall and 25.0% (7-28) from long range. Carnegie Mellon's Catherine Or led all scorers with 29 points in the game.

The Spartans will take a brief detour from conference play this week, traveling to Marietta, Ohio on Monday, January 13 for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off against Marietta College, the team's final non-conference game of the regular season. The game is a make-up of a previously postponed game against the Pioneers.

Spartan Notes

• Miller's three blocks on Saturday give her 37 this year, tied for the 10th-most in a single season in program history and matching her previous career-best mark set during the 2021-22 campaign. Her 104 career blocks rank sixth in program history and are seven away from Emily Mueller (2009-13) for the fifth-most over a career by a Spartan.

• Miller also recorded her third double-double of the season and her seventh double-digit rebound effort of the year.

• CWRU fell to 38-23 all-time against the Tartans. Saturday's loss ended a stretch of two-straight home wins for the Spartans against Carnegie Mellon.