Backed by strong performances by three starters and some key baskets from the reserves, the University of Rochester women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 84-67 victory over Carnegie Mellon University on Friday night in University Athletic Association action at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Rochester (7-8, 2-2 UAA) used a big fourth quarter, outscoring the Tartans 25-10 to blow open a close game after three periods. Over the final ten minutes, Rochester made 53% of its shots and combined to hold the Tartans (10-5, 2-2 UAA) to just 25% in the same span.
The Yellowjackets were led by grad student Hannah Lindemuth who scored a season-high 22 points, aided by five 3-point field goals. Senior Abby Gress had 15 points and 11 rebounds in her second double-double of the season. She also chipped in six assists and a pair of steals.
Graduate student Callie McCulley also impressed down low, scoring 17 points while securing eight rebounds. Senior Kat Jenks led the bench players with 10 points, including two 3-pointers, while Hailey Bruneau, Tia Poulakidas and Raquel Williams each scored four. Rochester's bench combined to outscore the Tartan reserves 25-17.
Catherine Or led CMU with 14 points and 8 rebounds, adding 3 assists and 3 steals. Savannah Gibbs scored 13 points and dished out five assists for the visitors who were held to just 34% shooting overall on the night (27-for-79).
Neither team got off to a quick start in the opening quarter. UR's Rylee Drahos sank a 3-pointer for the first bucket of the game more than two minutes into the contest. The Tartans scored the next six points, but Rochester answered with six straight points as well, taking a 9-6 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first.
Rochester finished the opening quarter with a Lindemuth deep left wing three, with the Yellowjackets holding a 14-10 advantage.
In the second quarter, three straight triples, two from Lindemuth and another from McCulley gave Rochester a 10-point lead, up 25-15.
Carnegie Mellon fought back though, making four of its next five shots from distance to get back within four with under two and a half minutes to play in the quarter. Or, Kayla Delmore, Allie Heyer and Megan Matsko sank the triples, as CMU moved the score to 33-29.
As the half came to a close, Gibbs cut to the hoop on an inbounds play and the Tartans trailed by just two, down 36-34.
An early 7-2 spurt in the third quarter put the Tartans on top 41-38, but McCulley quickly erased the deficit with an old-fashioned 3-point play down low.
CMU's biggest lead of the game came after Heyer hit a driving layup inside to pull the Tartans ahead 51-45 with under three minutes to play in the third.
A 7-0 run, aided by a Lindemuth 3-pointer and jump shot along with McCulley putback, gave Rochester the lead back with 1:35 left in the quarter.
The Tartans would hit a pair of shots from long range in the closing two minutes of the third, but UR's offense scored its final three possessions as well to head into the final stanza up two, 59-57.
Gress scored an and-one to close the third, kickstarting what would be a 10-0 rush to put the Yellowjackets up by nine after just 1:13 in the fourth.
Carnegie Mellon pulled back within four following another 3-pointer by Delmore, but that was as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way.
A driving layup by Bruneau ignited another Rochester run, this one a 9-1 spurt, moving the Yellowjackets lead to 12 with just 2:40 left in the game. UR's Jenks added a big triple in the run.
After Or by a turnaround jumper for CMU, the Yellowjackets closed out the contest by scoring the final seven points, leading to the 17-point win.
Rochester earns its second straight win in conference play, winning back-to-back contests for the first time in the 2023-24 season. The Yellowjackets will look to make it three straight on Sunday when Rochester hosts Case Western Reserve at 2 pm in the Palestra.