MARIETTA, OHIO – Cortland closed a 10-point third-quarter deficit to one point in the final three minutes but couldn't complete the comeback as the Red Dragons lost to Carnegie Mellon, 54-50, in a battle of nationally ranked women's basketball teams at Marietta College's Jim Meagle Classic.
 
Cortland (2-2), ranked seventh nationally by D3hoops.com and tied for 22nd by the WBCA, will face Washington & Jefferson in the predetermined pairings Saturday at 1 p.m., while Carnegie Mellon (2-1), ranked 17th by D3hoops.com but unranked by the WBCA, will play Marietta on Saturday. W&J, which is tied for 25th in the WBCA poll, defeated Marietta, 81-65, in Friday's second game.
 
Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) led Cortland with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Joleen Lusk (Cherry Valley/Cherry Valley-Springfield) hit 5-of-8 shots and ended with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Jackie Funk (Penfield) scored eight points and led the Red Dragons with eight rebounds. Kaeli McAnally (Islip) finished with eight points, six rebounds and three assists, and Cadence Nicholas (Cortlandt Manor/Walter Panas) scored seven points and pulled down three boards.
 
Nicole Timko hit 6-of-13 shots overall and 4-of-7 from the 3-point arc and led CMU with 18 points. She also grabbed four rebounds. Payton Marney recorded 10 points and four assists, Savannah Gibbs made all three of her shots and had seven points and six rebounds, and Niyati Bangalore scored seven points and dished out four assists.
 
Cortland held its only lead at 3-2 on a McAnally 3-pointer with 7:35 left in the first quarter. The Tartans led 17-7 after one quarter, but Cortland got back to within 24-23 on a Nicholas layup with 2:42 left in the second. CMU, however, finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 32-25 halftime lead.
 
Cortland hung tough and trailed 39-36 with 2:33 left in the third, but CMU extended its lead back to 10 points at 46-36 on a Timko 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining in the period. Sophie Bissaillon's (East Greenbush/Columbia) layup in the final seconds of the third made it 46-38, and Cortland clawed back in the fourth and eventually was within 50-49 after a Tillotson layup with 2:06 remaining.
 
Timko hit two free throws with 1:43 left to give CMU a 52-49 lead. Cortland missed a shot, and Bangalore hit a jumper with 1:05 left to extend the Tartans' lead to 54-49. Cortland got back to within four on a Nicholas free throw with 51 seconds left. The Red Dragons got the ball back with 20 seconds left, still down by four, but missed a layup and a 3-pointer in the final 15 seconds.