PITTSBURGH – Chatham Women's Basketball (5-4, 3-2) fell short 61-56 in a tightly contested battle against the La Roche Redhawks (7-3, 2-1) on Saturday at the Kerr Fitness Center.

Charjae Brock lead the Cougars with 13 points on 6-12 shooting and four steals. Madison Nereu and Alyssa Laukus scored 11 points each and grabbed eight and four rebounds respectively.

The Redhawks started with the first four points of the game, but the Cougars answered with a layup from Laukus and two free throws from Nereu to tie the game. With 3:55 left in the first quarter, Julia Calvin gave Chatham its first lead of the day at 8-6 with a mid-range jumper. After four lead changes, the Cougars ended the first quarter with a 13-11 lead as Laukus scored the team's last five points of the period.

It was a tight second quarter, featuring four ties, three lead changes and neither team leading by more than four points. The two teams went into the halftime break tied at 22. Dominique Pacheco led the Cougars in scoring in the second quarter with four points.

A three-pointer from Zeli Rodriguez and two baskets from Brock helped Chatham to a five-point lead early in the second half, but La Roche quickly erased that lead with a 5-0 run and tied the game at 29. The two teams traded lead changes on each of the next five scores before being knotted again at 37. The Redhawks then used another 5-0 run to go up 42-37 for their largest lead of the day to that point, but a triple from Chenault brought the Cougars back within two, then a floater at the third quarter buzzer from Brock tied the game at 42.

The fourth quarter was again a back-and-forth affair, with the two teams combining for multiple ties and lead changes throughout. Another three from Chenault gave Chatham a 48-46 lead with 5:57 left, but La Roche hit two free throws and connected on a three to take a 51-48 lead just 40 seconds later. The Cougars regained the lead at 3:51 with a basket from Chenault, then increased that lead to three on a layup from Brock. However, The Redhawks closed the game on a 10-2 run to secure the victory.

The game featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties, while the largest lead by either team was just five points. Chatham shot 38.9% (21-54) from the floor, while La Roche shot 40.4% (21-52) from the field. The Redhawks out rebounded the Cougars 34-26 and the two teams combined for 40 turnovers.

Chatham Women's Basketball will return on New Year's Eve with a road game against the Franciscan Barons.