BROCKPORT, NY – Through they trailed early, the University of Rochester women's basketball took a four-point lead at the half and quickly took a double-digit lead to start the third as they defeated the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles, 67-54, in non-conference action on Saturday inside Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium.
Katie Titus led the way for UR with 37 points, falling three points shy of tying the single-game, program record.
Callie McCulley and Titus scored the first four points of the game for UR before Anna Felice's three-pointer got the Golden Eagles on the board.
A minute and a half later, Titus answered with the Yellowjackets' first three of the game, and one of five makes on the afternoon for the Penfield, NY native, giving Rochester a 7-3 lead with 6:02 left in the first.
But the Golden Eagles would answer with a bit of a run, holding UR without a bucket and 0-fo-6 from the floor over the next three minutes, as Brockport scored six straight to take a 9-7 lead.
Titus would slow SUNY Brockport's run and even the score at nine-all with a jumper from Raquel Williams, and then again at 11-11 with another basket off Williams' assist.
But Shannon Blankenship gave the Golden Eagles a 14-11 lead with a triple, and Felice knocked down a layup with 34 left in the quarter to give Brockport a 16-13 lead at the end of the first.
The Golden Eagles would lead by as many as six in the early goings of the second, before McCulley's two free throws and Alexis Sestric's triple pulled UR within one, 21-20, just over two minutes into the frame.
Zairea Hannah made it a three-point game with a layup on the other end, but Titus answered with five straight points of her own, giving Rochester its first lead of the period.
The two sides would go back and forth down the stretch of the second quarter, with two ties and six lead changes, until the 'Jackets ended the quarter on an 8-1 run to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Titus' layup with 2:11 to play in the first half pulled UR within one before Sestric gave UR a 34-33 lead.
Titus added another bucket 45 seconds later, and Haley Dumiak then scored her first point off the afternoon, helping UR take a four-point lead at the half.
Titus again got things going for UR in the third, scoring seven of UR's first nine points of the period, as the Yellowjackets quickly extended their lead to double digits, 49-38 to 6:37 left in the third.
A 5-0 brought the Golden Eagles within six, but that's as close as Brockport would get the rest of the way.
Titus scored the next five herself on another three-pointer and two made free throws, giving Rochester an 11-point lead before Williams knocked down two more free throws after Mackenzie Higby's triple to make it a 10-point lead after three.
Rochester then shutout the Golden Eagles for much for the fourth, holding SUNY Brockport without a bucket till the game was all but decided. Dumiak got the scoring start with a free throw 20 seconds in, as UR opened the final frame with a 10-0 run over the first 7:45 of the fourth.
Titus scored her last bucket with 2:30 to play, giving her 37 points on the afternoon, and UR a 66-46 lead before Felice broke the shutout with a pair of free throws.
With the game all but decided, the Golden Eagles cut the final deficit to 13 before the final buzzer sounded, as Rochester wrapped up a 67-54, non-conference victory.
Rochester moves to 8-1 with the win, while SUNY Brockport falls to 5-4 with the loss.
Titus' 37 points, the third-most in a game in UR women's basketball program history, fell one shy of tying her career high. The graduate forward shot 15-for-25 from the floor, 5-for-11 from three and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 33 minutes of action.
Titus' 15 made field goals also tied a career-high and the fourth-most in a game in program history.
Sestric joined Titus in double figures with 12 points, while McCulley led UR with five assists. Defensively, Hailey Bruneau notched a team-high two blocks, while Dumiak tallied two steals.
As a team, Rochester shot 41.9 percent and held Brockport to just five second-half field goals, and just 21.7 percent shooting in the second half.
The Yellowjackets also outscored the Golden Eagles, 34-22 in the paint, and scored 22 points off 19 Brockport turnovers.
Rochester will next wrap up the 2022 portion of its schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 13 with a non-conference matchup against Buffalo State in Buffalo, NY at 6:30 p.m.