PITTSBURGH, Pa. (courtesy Carnegie Mellon sports information) -- Junior Emily Peel's (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) career-high 33 points lifts the Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team to a 65-56 victory over the visiting Judges of Brandeis University in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest.  The Tartans are now 8-12, 2-7 UAA while the Judges drop to 8-12, 1-8 UAA. The win snaps a 20-game losing streak for CMU against Brandeis, dating back to 2001-02.

Brandeis opened the game leading 9-4 after five minutes of play, with four different players scoring points.  The Tartans then used a 13-5 run over the next eight minutes to claim a 17-14 advantage.  The lead was one the Tartans did not surrender the rest of the way.

Peel gave the Tartans their largest lead of the half, 34-17, with 3:55 to play following an up-and-under layup.  The teams exchanged buckets two more time before the end of the half. Peel gave the Tartans a 28-21 lead at the break after converting the last basket of the half.

Senior Jennifer Larsen (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) connected on a pair of foul shots two minutes into the second half, extending the home team's lead to 34-22.  With the Tartans holding a 41-33 lead, Brandeis used a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 43-42 with 7:21 to play as they connected on three of their four 3-pointers on the afternoon. Senior Morgan Kendrew (Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable) opened the string, while grad student Diana Cincotta (W. Boylston, Mass./W. Boylston) dialed long distance twice to get the margin down to one.

On the Tartans next possession down the court, sophomore Jacquie Shaw (Portland, Ore./Grant) hit a jumper which sparked seven straight points for the Cardinal and Gray pushing the lead to 50-42 with 5:32 on the clock.

Carnegie Mellon maintained control the rest of the game and led by as many as 14 points before winning 65-56.  The Tartans shot 47% from the floor and held Brandeis to 26%. 

Kendrew scored 18 points, 13 in the second half, to lead the Judges. She also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds in the setback, tied with classmate Shannon Hassan (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack).  Sophomore Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) and rookieHannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) had eight points each.

Peel ended the game shooting 14-of-16 from the floor and Shaw was the team's second leading scorer with 10 points. Peel and Larsen each grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the win as the Tartans edged the Judge 44-42 on the glass.