CLEVELAND – Senior center Emily Mueller (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks as the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team opened Throwback Weekend with a 56-41 victory versus University Athletic Association foe University of Chicago (Ill.) on Friday evening at Horsburgh Gymnasium.
The Spartans (11-6, 3-3 UAA) snap a two-game losing streak and return to action this action this Sunday, January 27 versus No. 7 nationally-ranked Washington University-St. Louis at 1:00 p.m. With the loss, the Maroons fall to 6-10 and 2-4 UAA.
As part of CWRU's eighth annual Throwback Weekend, the Spartan women wore uniforms commemorating Flora Stone Mather College.
Mueller, the UAA's leader in blocked shots, moves her career total to 92. Also for Case, sophomore guard Brooke Orcutt (Morrison, Colo./Dakota Ridge) scored 11 points, while senior guard Evy Iacono (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) added 10. Senior point guard Erica Iafelice (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) turned in an all-around performance with five points, three rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
As a team, the Spartans forced 25 turnovers and held Chicago to 27 percent shooting from the field.
In the first half, the Maroons built an early 7-2 lead when Paige Womack hit a three-pointer at the 17:21 mark. The Spartans then came back with a 10-0 run to lead 12-7 as sophomore forward Erin Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) scored her fourth in a row on a jumper with 14:04 remaining in the period. Case's lead would eventually reach a first-half high of 11, 20-9, when Reynolds hit another jumper at 10:20, and the Spartans were able to get to the halftime break ahead 32-22.
In the second, the Spartan lead hit 12 on several occasions before a triple from Iafelice put the hosts ahead by 15, 42-27, with 14:39 left to play. Case's advantage reached as many as 19 on two occasions in the following minutes, and Chicago never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
For the game, Chicago was led by Womack with 13 points and Christianne Murray with 10 boards.
Following Sunday's game versus Washington-St. Louis, the Spartans head back out for a two-game road trip in Chicago and St. Louis next Friday and Sunday, February 1-3.