PITTSBURGH, PA – Three players in double-figures led the way as the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team won its University Athletic Association opener, 59-47, at Carnegie Mellon University (PA) on Saturday, January 8 at Skibo Gymnasium. The victory marked the 200th in the career of head coach Jennifer Reimer.
With their third straight win, the Spartans improve to 7-5 overall. Carnegie Mellon dropped to 2-10.
Reimer -pictured right - has now compiled a mark of 200-146 in her 15th season. In her fourth season with CWRU, Reimer is 43-44.
Junior forward Erin Hollinger (Chardon, OH/Chardon) and sophomore guard Evy Iacono (Cincinnati, OH/Mount Notre Dame) scored 14 points each, while sophomore guard Erica Iafelice (North Canton, OH/Hoover) posted 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Spartans led by 14 on three occasions in the first half. The first came when Iafelice hit a free throw to make the score 27-13 at 6:18 and the second came when Iacono -pictured left - hit a pair of charity shots to bring the lead to 29-15 with 4:42 left in the half.
Carnegie Mellon cut its deficit to nine, at 29-20, when Nicole Vaccarella hit a three-pointer at 3:44, but the Spartans answered on their next possession when Iafelice hit a three-pointer. Hollinger then gave Case its third 14-point advantage of the period, at 34-20, with a layup at 2:11. The Tartans scored the final bucket of the half when Jacki Cortese hit a layup to make the score 34-22 with 38 seconds remaining before the break.
The Spartans built their lead to a high of 17 in the second half when Hollinger hit a three-pointer to make the score 44-27 with 13:16 remaining in the contest. CMU got to within six, at 44-38, when Jacquie Shaw hit a layup to cap an 11-0 run, but the Spartans were able to close on a 15-9 run to give Reimer career victory No. 200.
The Spartans are back home to host their first UAA weekend of the season next Friday and Sunday. Case hosts New York University on Jan. 14 at 6:00 p.m. and Brandeis University (MA) on Jan. 16 at 2:00 p.m.