University of Rochester women's basketball defeated the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, 82-62 on Sunday afternoon inside the Louis Alexander Palestra to complete the weekend sweep of CWRU and Carnegie Mellon and win its third-straight contest.
The win moves Rochester back to .500, 8-8 (3-2 UAA) on the year, while the Spartans drop to 8-8 (1-4 UAA) with the loss. Through five games, the Yellowjackets sit tied for third in the UAA.
Though Callie McCulley got the scoring started with a driving layup at the 9:43 mark of the first, Kayla Characklis answered with back-to-back scores, and the Spartans led for much of the early going.
CWRU led by four, 10-6, just shy of the six-minute mark, following four more from Characklis, before the Yellowjackets made a run, turning a four-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Alex Sullivan got the run going with a layup from Kat Jenks, as UR outscored the Spartans, 12-0 over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 1-for-2 from three.
The Spartans turned it over five times over that stretch, with Hailey Bruneau's fastbreak layup and Rylee Drahos' pullup helping UR out to an 18-10 lead.
The Spartans would keep things close, closing the quarter with seven of the final 10 points, and head into the second down by four, 21-17. Lucy Vanderbeck would then get CWRU on the scoreboard first to start the frame, knocking down a triple to make it a one-point game, but that'd be as close as they'd get the rest of the way.
McCulley answered with a turnaround jumper on the ensuing possession, before her triple brought UR's lead out to six, 26-20, just under a minute into the quarter. A few minutes later, Tia Poulakidas and Sullivan connected on a pair of layups to make it an eight-point game, while Jenks knocked down one of her two-made triples to extend UR's lead to 10.
Characklis and Emily Plachta would answer for CWRU to make it a five-point game, but the Yellowjackets would end the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 44-32 lead at the break.
The 'Jackets shot 50 percent in the first half, connecting on 17-of-34 attempts, while Case Western Reserve shot 40.6 percent, and turned the ball over nine times.
Rochester and CWRU would go back and forth to start the third, with UR unable to extend their lead past 14, and the Spartans unable to cut the deficit down to single digits. McCulley's driving layup at the 5:58 mark made it a 14-point, 53-38, game before Characklis drew two straight fouls and sank four free throws in a row on the other end to bring the Spartans within 11.
UR's lead would hover around 11 till the 2:41 mark of the third when Poulakidas' jumper got the 'Jackets on a run. Margaret Terry answered on the other end, pulling the Spartans back within 11, but Abby Gress sank another to once again make it a 13-point game.
Vanderbeck couldn't connect on a three-pointer on the other end and after turnovers by both sides, McCulley scored off an assist from Drahos to extend the lead out to 15. Then after another turnover by CWRU, Drahos found Lindemuth on the fastbreak, forcing the Spartans to take a timeout with UR out to a 17-point lead.
The Yellowjackets would head into the fourth with a 65-50 advantage, and quickly ran the lead past 20, opening the final frame on an 8-2 run.
Layups from Gress and Lindemuth got the 'Jackets going, before Lindemuth added two more, both off assists from Gress, to give UR a 73-52 lead.
Mya Hartjes and Preet Gill answered to pull CWRU within 20, but Jenks sank another triple with just under five minutes to play, and from there, Rochester cruised to victory.
Down the stretch, Drahos would sink a pair of free throws while Sullivan went 1-for-2 at the line before Raquel Williams' late bucket finished off the 82-62 win.
11 of the 12 'Jackets that saw the court for UR scored, led by McCulley's 18 points. Gress added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Lindemuth joined the pair in double figures with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Drahos turned in a bit of an all-around performance, with four points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block, while Poulakidas tallied nine points and eight rebounds.
As a team, Rochester shot 47.8 percent and held CWRU to just 33.3 percent shooting and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc. UR also outrebounded the Spartans, 45-38, scored 18 points off 14 CWRU turnovers and outscored the Spartans, 50-32 in the paint and 24-7 on second-chance opportunities.
The Yellowjackets will take their three-game win streak on the road to New York, NY, where they'll face the No. 1-ranked New York University Violets on Friday, Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m.