Case Western Reserve University junior guard/forward Emily Plachta scored 12 of her career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the Spartans hold off 13th-ranked Washington University (Mo.) 64-57 for the upset win on Friday night in St. Louis, Missouri.

The win put an end to a three-game losing streak for the Spartans, who improved to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in University Athletic Association play. The Bears, who entered Friday's contest on a five-game winning streak, dropped to 10-3 overall and to 1-1 in the UAA.

Plachta, who now leads the team with 12.8 points per game this season, made eight-of-16 shots and matched her career-high with five three-pointers on 12 attempts while adding two rebounds, an assist, and two steals. Sophomore guard Mya Hartjes finished with 14 points and led the team with seven rebounds while dishing out two assists with two steals and a career-best two blocks for the second-straight game. Junior guard Maya Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and senior forward Evie Miller successfully navigated foul trouble throughout the game to finish the contest with 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists.

The Spartans took the early advantage in the game, making six-of-11 shots from behind the three-point line in the first period alone, en route to taking a 20-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. Miller made a pair of threes in the first two minutes of the game to give CWRU an early 6-4 advantage. The Bears eventually tied the game at 8-8 with 6:08 left in the first, but two threes from Hartjes and a third from Plachta put the Spartans ahead 17-10 with 4:32 to go in the first. A three by Roberts to cap off the period helped the Spartans take an eight-point lead into the second quarter.

The Spartans increased their lead to double digits by the 6:09 mark of the second period when Hartjes hit a layup to put CWRU in front 27-16. CWRU led by as many as 13 points in the first half, going ahead 31-18 on a layup by sophomore forward Maura Schorr and took a 33-21 lead into halftime.

CWRU increased its lead to as many as 16 points in the third quarter, going ahead 40-24 with 5:58 left in the period. However, the Bears answered with a 12-0 run to cut the Spartans' lead to just four points, 40-36, with 1:24 left in the third, but baskets by Miller and sophomore guard Jordyn Call to end the period made it a 44-36 game heading into the final period.

After missing their first 12 three-point attempts over the first 28 minutes of the game, the Bears found their rhythm late, making six of their final 13 tries from long range, including five in the fourth quarter alone from Alyssa Hughes, but Plachta made three of her own in the fourth to help hold off WashU. Plachta opened the scoring in the fourth with a layup to put the Spartans ahead by 10, but the Bears followed with seven-straight points to cut the CWRU advantage to three points, 46-43, by the 8:34 mark. Plachta continued to come up big for the Spartans, hitting a three with 7:24 left to put the CWRU lead back to six points and hit another three less than a minute later to bring the edge back to six points again. The Bears got back within three points with 4:35 left, but a free throw from Roberts and Plachta's third three of the period increased the Spartans' lead back to seven, 58-51, with 1:38 to play.

WashU would not go away easily, cutting the lead to three points again with Hughes' fifth three of the period with 32 seconds left. However, that would prove to be the Bears' final points of the game, and the Spartans added on late with free throws from Plachta, Roberts, and Hartjes to secure the upset win.

CWRU finished the game with a 41.5% (22-53) to 31.3% (21-67) edge in shooting percentage and a 31.3% (10-32) to 24.0% (6-25) advantage from long range. The Spartans forced 20 turnovers in the game, the second-highest total of the year, and held a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers on Friday.

The Spartans will wrap up their road trip on Sunday afternoon when the team travels to Chicago for a 1:00 p.m. ET contest against the 24th-ranked University of Chicago.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans' win on Friday night was the team's first over a nationally-ranked opponent since a 61-57 win at then-22nd-ranked WashU on February 17, 2023. It is the highest-ranked opponent that CWRU has bested since an 87-78 win over 10th-ranked Carnegie Mellon on January 7, 2017.

• The victory was the Spartans' third in the last five meetings against WashU and their fifth victory in the last nine matchups. It was just the team's second win all-time at WashU, along with the win in 2023. CWRU improved to 6-55 all-time against WashU.

• Plachta has led the Spartans in points in five of the team's last six games. Her 22 points on Friday surpassed her previous career-high of 21 against Alma on November 19, 2022, and marked her third game of 20 or more points this year.

• The Spartans held the Bears to just nine points in the second quarter, marking the eighth time this season that CWRU has held its opponent to under 10 points in a period. The 21 points allowed by the Spartans in the first half were the third-fewest by the team this season, behind only the 19 points allowed in the first half against Pitt.-Greensburg on November 23 and the 20 points yielded to Mount Union in the first half on November 26.

• Friday's game was the first of two contests between the two teams this season. The Spartans and the Bears are scheduled to face off again on Friday, February 14 in Cleveland.