From University of Rochester Athletics
The University of Rochester women's basketball team sits in a four-way tie atop the University Athletic Association standings after its 68-49 victory over NYU on Friday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
UR moves to 13-4, 4-2 in the UAA while NYU drops to 10-7 and 0-6 in the conference. The log jam atop the conference standings features Rochester, Washington-St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon and Chicago all sitting at 4-2 following Friday nights action. Emory and Case Western Reserve are only a game back in the cluttered group of teams with a 3-3 conference record.
The Yellowjackets put the Violets away early in the contest, going on a 12-3 run over the opening five and half minutes. UR's strong defense held NYU to just three field goals in 13 attempts in the opening quarter.
In the second, UR sank three straight three point shots, one each from Lauren Foley, Lauren Deming and Brenna James, with James adding another jumper to burst out on an 11-0 run, building the lead up to 19 with over seven minutes left in the half. Overall on the night, UR made nine from behind the arc, the second most in the season thus far.
Rochester would then breeze into the locker room up 18, leading 39-21.
Again it was the long ball that helped the Yellowjackets reach their biggest lead of the night at 26. Sarah Kaminsky and James each hit a triple and Alexandra Leslie added a layup as UR scored the first eight points of the second half.
Visiting NYU tried to get back into it, trimming the lead down to as little as 14 with an extended 16-4 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter. Shaye McGoey led the Violet run with six points while Amy Harioka and Simone Jaacques each drained a 3-pointer.
Rochester then scored eight of the next 10 points, capped by another James triple, her third of the night to regain a 20-point margin with under eight minutes to go.
UR's Leslie was the teams leading scorer with 18 points, also grabbing eight rebounds, seeing her double-double streak come to an end at six games. Foley added 13 points and five assists along with three 3-pointers and James finished with 12 points and a season high six rebounds. Deming added eight points, six assists and five rebounds while Lizzy Atkinson, Mary Kronenwetter and Shea McCartney each chipped in four points.
NYU's McGoey led the Violets with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Harioka finished with nine points and five boards. Lauren Brown added eight points off the bench and Simone had seven points and eight rebounds.