Juniors Shellie Kaniut and Michelle Bevan combined for 23 points but it wasn't enough as the Emory women's basketball team fell at Carnegie Mellon Friday evening.  The Tartans raised their overall record to 17-6, 6-6 in the University Athletic Association, following a 70-62 decision over the Eagles, who slipped to 13-10 overall, 4-8 in the league.

Trailing by a 56-52 margin early in the final quarter, Emory used an 8-2 run, started by a jumper from Bevan, to claim a 60-58 lead with 5:42 remaining in the game. However, the Eagles went scoreless for over the next five minutes while the Tartans strung together 12 unanswered points in taking a 70-60 advantage with just 32 ticks left on the clock. 

CMU ended the game shooting 42.6 percent (23 of 54) from the floor compared to the Eagles' mark of 33.8 percent (22 of 65).  While Emory recorded a decided edge in three-point shooting, 47.1 percent (8 of 17) to the Tartans' 25 percent (4 of 16), CMU converted 20-of-27 free throws while the Eagles converted 10 in 17 opportunities. The Tartans also finished with a 46-35 margin in rebounding. 

Kaniut sank four-of-nine field goal attempts, including three triples in five attempts, in registering her 11^th double-figure scoring performance of the year.  Bevan's 10 points represented her eighth double-digit effort of the campaign in 18 outings.  Senior Ilene Tsao added nine points and paced the Emory rebounding efforts with seven boards.

CMU's Lisa Murphy led all scorers with 32 points, hitting 11 field goals in 16 attempts and 10-of-13 free throws.

Emory withstood a hot-shooting Carnegie Mellon squad during the opening minutes of the game, with the Tartans knocking down nine of their first 10 field goals, while Emory sank just three-of-11 from the field, in bolting to a 20-7 lead with 4:38 left in the opening stanza.  The Eagles closed out the remainder of the quarter with eight unanswered points, sparked by three pointers by Khadijah Sayyid and Lauren Weems, to draw to within 20-15 after the opening 10 minutes of action.  Emory opened the second quarter with a 9-2 blitz, keyed by five points from Mikailia Schmitt, to take a 24-22 advantage with 5:34 remaining.  A three-point play by Lisa Murphy, which saw the Tartans hit their first field goal in over nine minutes, put the hosts up by a point with 5:16 left in the half. Murphy's bucket would be CMU's last field goal over the remainder of the quarter with the Tartans scoring their final nine points from the charity stripe in taking a 34-32 lead into intermission.  For the half, Emory shot 32.4 percent (12 of 37) from the floor compared to the Tartans' 35.7 percent (10 of 28).  After its torrid start from the field, CMU converted just one of its last 19 field goal attempts.  The Tartans made the most of their free throw attempts, sinking 12 of 13.  Kaniut led Emory's first-half scoring effort with six points with Sayyid, Weems and Schmitt contributing five.

Emory returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 21) when it plays at Case Western Reserve University.