From University of Rochester Athletics
Talk about a closing act. Rochester played its best game of the year by far and defeated New York University, 73-54, in a matchup of teams ranked highly by both D3hoops.com and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Rochester won its eighth straight game. The Yellowjackets are 13-1 overall, 3-0 in the University Athletic Association. All three UAA wins have come on the road in a span of nine calendar days. The Yellowjackets are ranked No. 10 by D3hoops.com and No. 12 by the WBCA. NYU lost its first game of the season. The Violets entered the game ranked No. 4 by D3hoops.com and No. 5 by the WBCA. They are 13-1 overall, 2-1 in the UAA.
This was NYU's final game at the Coles Sports Centre in lower Manhattan before the building undergoes heavy renovation work – and that will take anywhere from five to seven years. The remainder of NYU's home games will be played at Bernard Baruch College in midtown Manhattan (Lexington Avenue and East 25th Street).
Al Leslie led Rochester with a career high 30 points, hitting 12 of 19 from the floor. She grabbed nine rebounds. Sarah Kaminsky scored 10 points to go along with a career-high matching five assists as the Yellowjackets got contributions throughout the lineup. Brynn Lauer had eight points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Lauren Deming had eight points and nine rebounds. Cassie McCambridge scored six points and grabbed two boards. Jillian Silvestri had five points and three assists.
NYU had two women in double figures. Megan Dawe scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. Amy Harioka had 13 points. Kaitlyn Read scored nine points, had five rebounds, and five steals. Riley Wurtz led the Violets on the glass with nine rebounds.
This was Rochester's first win at Coles in the last three years. NYU won, 69-60, on its home court in 2013-14. Last year, Rochester took a six point lead into the locker room at halftime (38-32), but NYU turned things around after intermission and won, 80-66.
The Yellowjackets nursed a two-point halftime lead (34-32) this year. Lauer hit a trey on the first possession of the third quarter, but Harioka matched it 38 seconds later. Kaminsky's layup ignited an 11-0 run that ended on Deming's layup with 4:48 left and UR ahead, 48-37. Leslie scored four of the 11 points and Silvestri knocked down a 3-pointer. NYU put together a six-point run. In the final minute, McCambridge and Silvestri sandwiched jumpers around a basket from NYU's Mikaela Pyatt. Rochester led, 52-43, heading into the last 10 minutes.
A layup from Wurtz and a jumper by Dawe got the home crowd back into it as the margin was narrowed to five, 52-47. Rochester's defense held NYU to just one point – a free throw from Read – in the next 4:23. Meanwhile, Kaminsky scored five, Leslie had a pair of layups, and Lauer drove for a layup. Rochester led by 15, 63-48, with six minutes to play.
Rochester didn't make another field goal, but the Yellowjackets hit 10 of 12 free throws – with five players sinking them. That put it away.
Noteworthy:
Rochester produced its best shooting game of the year - .475 (28-59). NYU hit .308 (20-65)… Yellowjackets were 5-12 beyond the arc (.417), NYU 3-19 (.158)… Rochester held a 49-33 edge on the glass and scored 10 second chance points on 12 offensive rebounds. NYU had four second chance points on 11 offensive boards… Rochester turned the ball over a season's high 25 times, leading to 21 NYU points. Yellowjackets got it back, though, scoring 23 points of 16 NYU giveaways… Rochester is tied for first place in the UAA with Washington which defeated Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. CMU and NYU are tied for third (2-1). Chicago and Brandeis are tied for fifth (1-2) with Emory and Case tied for seventh at 0-3.