Plachta Ends Career with 31-Point Showing in Win over CMU on ‘Senior Day’

Case Western Reserve University senior guard/ forward Emily Plachta scored a career-high 31 points in the final game of her collegiate career to lead the Spartans to a 68-59 win over Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland to conclude the team's 2025-26 campaign.

The Spartans ended the season with an 11-14 overall record, including a 4-10 mark in University Athletic Association games. The Tartans, who received votes in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25, dropped to 15-10 overall with a 7-7 conference record.

Stats and Standouts

Plachta played all 40 minutes in the game, finishing the contest shooting 10-of-15 overall, three-of-three from behind the three-point line, and eight-of-nine from the free throw line. She added five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.

Junior forward Maura Schorr recorded her third-consecutive double-double, totaling 12 points and 10 rebounds with an assist, a steal, and two blocks.

Junior guard Mya Hartjes added 10 points and led the team with four assists.

Junior forward Biz Watson led the team with 12 rebounds and scored four points with a steal and two blocks.

The Spartans ended the contest shooting 37.9% overall, including 31.6% from behind the three-point line.

First Period

The Tartans led 7-3 early, but CWRU followed with five unanswered points to take its first lead of the game, 8-7, with 7:02 left in the opening stanza.

Carnegie Mellon responded with a three on its next possession to regain the lead, and went ahead by as many as eight in the period before closing out the frame with a 21-14 lead.

Second Period

The Tartans took a 10-point lead, 26-16, by the 8:48 mark, before CWRU launched on a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to grab the lead in the game.

CWRU took a 27-26 lead on a jumper by Watson with 5:47 left in the half, and capped off the run with a pair of free throws from Plachta at the 2:32 mark to go ahead 33-26.

The Spartans led by five points, 35-30, going into halftime.

Plachta scored 15 points in the second period and finished the first half with 21 total points, playing all 20 minutes and making seven-of-10 shots overall and two-of-two from behind the three-point arc.

Third Period

The Tartans trimmed the lead to three points with 8:50 on the clock in the third, but back-to-back layups from Plachta and junior forward Maura Schorr put CWRU ahead 41-34 with 7:54 to play.

CWRU led by as many as nine points in the period, going ahead 52-43 on a layup by sophomore guard Mila Rossini, and took a five-point lead, 55-50, into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Period

CWRU quickly increased its lead back to nine points, going ahead 61-52 on a jumper by Watson with 7:19 left in the game.

Carnegie Mellon cut it to a one-possession game, 52-49, with 1:05 to go, but free throws from Plachta and senior guard Emi Hutter-DeMarco increased the team's lead to six points, 55-49, with 22 seconds left, as CWRU was able to hold on for a five-point victory.

Spartan Notes

Prior to the game, the Spartans recognized their three graduating players - Plachta, Hutter-DeMarco, and senior guard Maya Roberts - during a special 'Senior Day' ceremony. Together, the group helped the Spartans total 44 wins over the past four seasons.

Plachta finished her career with 1,034 points, the 13th-most by a player in program history.

Hartjes ended her season with 99 assists, tied for the 12th-most in a campaign in team history, while her 55 made three-point shots are tied for the fourth-most in a season by a Spartan. Her 253 career assists are ninth all-time in team history.

Schorr recorded her team-leading seventh double-double of the season on Saturday.

CWRU improved to 40-24 all-time against Carnegie Mellon with the win, completing a season sweep of the series against the Tartans.

CWRU ended its season with a 6-5 record in home games.