From University of Rochester Athletics
The 7th-ranked University of Rochester women's basketball team posted its second straight wire-to-wire victory, defeating Carnegie Mellon University 77-45 on Sunday afternoon at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Another strong start was the difference for the Yellowjackets (13-1, 3-0 UAA), as UR jumped out to a 24-10 lead after the opening ten minutes of the contest.
Rochester also was impressive on the glass, outrebounding the Tartans (9-5, 1-2 UAA) by 24, 60-36, including a 23-12 edge on the offensive boards. Those offensive rebounds led to 27 second chance points, compared to just eight for CMU. It was the first time in eight years that Rochester recorded 60 rebounds as a team.
UR's leading scorer was senior Alexandra Leslie who scored 12 points, while also contributing 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Lena Ethington provided a strong effort, scoring 11 points, matching a career high, to go along with nine rebounds. Mary Kronenwetter provided eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks also off the bench.
Overall, 13 different players scored for Rochester, which picked up its eighth straight victory overall on the season. Lauren Deming scored seven points and had five rebounds, while Jillian Silvestri and Brenna James each added six apiece. Brynn Lauer had five points, five rebounds and three assists and backcourt teammate Lizzy Atkinson also scored five.
Carnegie Mellon produced its second lowest scoring output of the season with the 45 points, which was also nearly 25 below the season average for the Tartans. Victoria Avery scored 11 points to lead CMU, while Katharine Higgins produced a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Makayla Filiere chipped in seven points.
Much like Friday night's contest against Case Western Reserve, Sunday's matchup saw the Yellowjackets get off to a lightning quick start to the game. It was 8-0 UR just ninety seconds into the contest following 3-pointers from Lauer and Deming and a layup from Ethington. Carnegie Mellon scored on a Higgins jumper to get on the board, but Rochester got five more points to quickly build a double-digit margin.
The second quarter started out in a similar fashion, with the Yellowjackets recording the first six points and 13 of 15, jumping out to a 25-point lead. The defense was the difference in that run, as CMU was just 1-8 from the floor and committed four turnovers, three of which were stolen by UR. For the game, UR swatted nine blocks as a team and also added nine steals, while forcing 16 Carnegie Mellon turnovers.
Rochester ended up shooting 37% from the floor (28-75) and made just four 3-pointers, but was the better of the two squads, as the Tartans ended up at 25% (15-59) for the contest and were just 2-12 from long range.