WALTHAM, MA – A furious second half comeback fell short as the #7 University of Rochester women's basketball team was tripped up by host Brandeis University 77-71 on Friday evening in a University Athletic Association matchup at Red Auerbach Arena.
Rochester (13-2, 3-1 UAA) trailed by as many as 15 points but rallied all the way to take a 4-point lead during the early part of the fourth quarter. Brandeis improves to 6-9 overall and picks up its first UAA win, moving to 1-3 in the conference.
The big run for the Yellowjackets was an 18-3 spurt over 4:14 spanning the last of the third and start of the fourth quarters. Graduate student Katie Titus poured in 10 of her team-high 22 points in the run, capping the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers to put Rochester head 62-58 with 6:20 remaining in the game.
Brandeis responded on both ends of the floor immediately after, scoring 12 straight points to regain its lead, going up by eight with 3:10 left. Emma Reavis was the key player for the Judges in the game-deciding stretch, scoring ten of the Brandeis 12 points. Reavis finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds to lead Brandeis.
UR got layups on its next two possessions from Alexis Sestric and Abby Gress to trim the Judges lead to four, but some cold shooting (1-for-5) and a couple turnovers over the final two minutes sealed the Yellowjackets fate.
The loss snaps a 7-game win streak for Rochester and is the third defeat in the last four meetings against Brandeis. The all-time series with the Judges also gets closer, as Rochester has won 35 to Brandeis' 34 wins in the 69 meetings.
During the opening quarter, the visiting Yellowjackets held an early 12-5 advantage following a Sestric 3-pointer, Titus layup and Callie McCulley free throw.
The lead stayed at seven with the score 19-12 following Haley Dumiak's 3-pointer with 2:36 left in the first, but Brandeis closed the period with five straight points to pull within two after ten minutes of play.
Brandeis dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Yellowjackets 26-9. UR combined to shoot just 2-for-17 (12%) in the quarter and were 0-for-6 from 3-point range, while Brandeis made 11-of-17 (65%) from the floor and drained two triples to grab its big lead.
The Judges extended the run from the end of the first by scoring the first six points of the second, paced by layups inside by Caitlin Gresko, Shannon Smally and Reavis to take a 23-19 lead.
A couple minutes later, jump shots by Lulu Ohm, a triple by Tathiana Pierre and another Smally layup pushed the Judges lead to double-digits with 5:30 left in the quarter.
After Rochester got back within seven behind jumpers from Gress and Hailey Bruneau, Brandeis closed the half on a 10-2 run to head into halftime up 15 points, leading 43-28.
UR began its comeback in the third quarter by running the offense through the post, with Titus and McCulley combining for 12 of the Yellowjackets 18 points in the quarter, matching Brandeis' total in the period. Six other points came from Maura Leverone (four) and Gress and Rochester cut the Judges lead down to nine entering the fourth.
Titus' 22 was combined with 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year. Gress finished with 12 points in 19 minutes for the Yellowjackets and McCulley added nine points and eight boards. Leverone had 7 points, 9 assists and 3 steals while Sestric chipped in seven points.
Smally added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Judges while Mollie Obar sank three 3-pointers and ended with 11 points off the bench.
Brandeis as a team shot 53% from the field, just shy of its season-high, while Rochester's 39% shooting mark was fourth lowest on the season and only the fourth time through 15 games the Yellowjackets ended below 40%.
Rochester looks to rebound with a big matchup on Sunday against #8 New York University. That game will be played at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility with a tipoff at 2 pm.