PITTSBURGH, Pa. (3/2/22) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team defeated top-seeded Kean University in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Basketball Championship semifinal, 77-44, on Wednesday evening.

Kean closes their campaign at 17-8 while the Tartans improve to 13-11.

It was a senior show for the Tartans in the first period as seniors Caitlyn Clendenin and Leah Weslock accounted for all 14 points, as the Tartans trailed 17-14.

Kean maintained the lead through the second quarter until a three-pointer tied the score at 28-28 with 4:01 remaining in the half. The Tartans would score the final five points of the half to lead 31-28 at the break. Before the Cougars had a five-minute scoring drought where they missed eight shot attempts, the team was shooting 66.7% from the floor with senior Shannon McCoy scoring 16 points. McCoy had nine of the team's 11 points in the second quarter and her own 12-point streak spanning the two quarters.

The Tartans added to their advantage in the third quarter scoring the first five points to push their lead to eight before Kean hit back-to-back buckets to pull the deficit to three with 6:48 showing on the clock. The Tartans would then go on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to take the first double-digit lead of the game, 45-33.

Kean would pull back to nine points twice in the quarter but another pair of three-pointers for the Tartans and a fast break layup gave the Tartans their largest lead to that point at 17 points.

The Tartans shot 66.7% for the quarter, making 5-of-6 from long range, while the Cougars connected on just 27.8% of their attempts.

The hot shooting continued for the Tartans in the fourth quarter, as they made their first four shots to build a 66-40 lead with 7:04 to play.