The Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Carnegie Mellon University 66-65 in the opening game of the 2023 University Athletic Association season on Saturday at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

The win was the fifth straight for the Spartans, who improved to 10-2 for the season and 1-0 in UAA games. Carnegie Mellon fell to 9-3 overall with an 0-1 UAA record.

Junior forward Kayla Characklis scored all five of her points in the closing minutes of the game, hitting a layup with 2:04 left in the contest to tie the score at 61-61, hitting a second layup off an offensive rebound with 1:12 to go to put the Spartans in front for the first time in the game, 63-61, and after the Tartans tied the game, hitting a free throw with 17 seconds left to give CWRU the lead again, 64-63.

Carnegie Mellon missed a layup on the next possession, and first-year guard/forward Emily Plachta secured the rebound to give CWRU the ball back with nine seconds left. After a foul by the Tartans, guard/forward Isabella Mills, who led all CWRU players with 19 points, hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 66-63. Carnegie Mellon missed a three to tie the game with two seconds left, and a two-point basket off an offensive rebound as time expired left the Tartans one point short and gave CWRU the 66-65 win.

Mills scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half of the game and added eight rebounds and four assists with a pair of steals. Junior guard Sarah Mitchell finished with 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half, and collected a game-high and career-best 12 rebounds.

Turnovers hurt the Spartans early, as the Tartans turned seven CWRU turnovers into 12 points in the first period to jump out to a 21-10 lead by the 1:19 mark. A jumper by junior forward Preet Gill and a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Lucy Vanderbeck to end the quarter allowed CWRU to pull back within seven points, 21-14, to start the second quarter. Carnegie Mellon opened the second quarter with a three to go back up by 10 and led by double digits the rest of the half, taking a 37-23 lead into halftime.

The Spartans would get back in the game early in the second half with a 12-6 run over the first five minutes of the third period to pull back within six points, 43-37. However, Carnegie Mellon answered back, building its lead back to 13 points with 45 seconds left in the third and taking an 11-point advantage into the fourth quarter, 55-44.

CWRU opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to get back to within four points on a free throw by Mitchell with 7:01 to play making the score 55-51. The Spartans remained behind but within striking distance until Characklis evened the game with 2:04 left, marking the first time CWRU had pulled even in the game since the 5:42 mark in the first quarter. The Spartans outscored the Tartans 22-10 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

After shooting just 24.1% from the floor in the first half, the Spartans bounced back to shoot 42.4% in the second and finished the game shooting 33.3%. CWRU finished the game with a 46-39 rebounding advantage, including a 14-7 bump in offensive rebounds that led to a 13-8 edge in second-chance points.

The Spartans will play their first conference road games of the season next weekend, traveling to face 12^th-ranked Rochester on Friday night and Emory on Sunday afternoon.