The Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team celebrated its two graduating players before its final home game of the 2024-25 season on Sunday afternoon before suffering a 67-52 loss to the University of Chicago at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

The loss dropped the Spartans to 7-15 overall on the season and 2-9 in University Athletic Association play, while the Maroons improved to 14-8 with a 4-7 conference record.

Before the start of Sunday's game, the Spartans recognized their two graduating players - senior forward Evie Miller and senior guard Nyah Moore - with a 'Senior Day' ceremony before the start of the game. The two were each impactful players during their four years as Spartans, helping the team to 41 wins during their tenure.

Sophomore forward Maura Schorr led the team with a career-high matching 16 points, making six-of-nine shots overall and going four-of-four from the free throw line while collecting a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore guard/forward Emily Plachta added 12 points, five rebounds, and two blocks for the Spartans, and in her final game at Horsburgh Gymnasium, Miller scored 11 points with five rebounds and a pair of blocks.

The Spartans scored the first five points of the game on Sunday but Chicago responded with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the contest with 6:37 to play in the first quarter. CWRU found itself down by six points, 13-7, with 3:07 left in the period, but an 8-0 run by the Spartans that included six points from Miller, who was playing with two fouls, put the team back in front 15-13 with just under a minute left in the frame, and CWRU took a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.

CWRU maintained a lead until the 2:37 mark, leading by as many as five points during the stretch, before the Maroons took the lead back and headed into halftime with a five-point lead, 28-23.

Fouls proved to be a factor in the first half of the game as three Spartans - Miller, Schorr, and first-year guard Taylor Angielski - each picked up three fouls, leading to 12 made free throws on 18 attempts by the Maroons, compared to just six made free throws on as many attempts for CWRU. Miller finished the first half with nine points and four rebounds to lead the Spartans in each category over the first 20 minutes.

Chicago maintained at least a four-point lead throughout the third period and led by as many as 11 points in the quarter, going ahead 43-32 with 3:41 to play in the stanza, and took a 49-42 lead into the final period after sophomore guard Jordyn Call connected on a three with 21 seconds left in the period to cut the advantage to seven. A pair of free throws from Plachta to start the fourth period cut the lead to five, 49-44, with 8:40 left in the game, but the Maroons responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 58-44 by the 5:25 mark and were able to keep a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

The Spartans shot 30.0% (18-60) from the floor on Sunday and made four-of-29 three-point attempts (13.8%) while Chicago finished the game shooting 42.6% (23-54) overall and 35.0% (7-20) from long-range.

The Spartans will now turn their attention to a stretch of three straight conference road games to conclude their 2024-25 season, starting with contests at Brandeis University on Friday night and at top-ranked New York University on Sunday afternoon.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans, who entered the game 14th among NCAA Division III teams with 5.3 blocks per game, blocked nine shots against the Maroons on Sunday, matching their second-highest total in a game this year.

• Miller contributed two blocks on Sunday and now has 54 for the season, two behind Emily Mueller (2012-13) for the second-most in a season in program history and 13 shy of the program's single-season record of 67, set by Elaine Cotronakis during the 1987-88 campaign. She entered the contest 15th among Division III players with 2.52 blocks per contest.

• The Spartans finished the 2024-25 season with a 2-9 record in home games.

• CWRU dropped its ninth straight game to the Maroons, falling to 13-50 all-time against Chicago.