Senior forward Loren Wagner scored 15 points and pulled down a career high 20 rebounds and junior guard Ally Zywicki added 17 clutch points as the University of Rochester women's basketball team topped previously unbeaten Buffalo State College 63-57 on Friday night.
The Yellowjackets (5-4) battled the visiting Bengals all night long as the game featured five ties and 12 lead changes.
Rochester was able to build its biggest lead of the night 11 minutes into the game, going ahead 18-10 after a 10-1 spurt led by two 3-pointers by freshman Sarah Kaminsky. The Bengals (5-1) would respond with a 12-5 run over the next five minutes to cut within one point with just under four to play in the half.
At the break, UR held a slim three point lead at 27-24. Wagner already had her 5th double-double of the year after 20 minutes, scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 boards. It was a rough half of shooting for both teams as each squad shot just 21.9% (7-32) from the floor.
In the second half, Buffalo State rattled off 16 of the first 21 points to pull ahead 37-33. Olivia Luciani paced the run with eight points including two from behind the arc. The junior scored all of her game high 18 points in the second half, including making four treys.
With 5:45 to play, Zywicki sank a jumper to knot the score at 51. Buffalo State's Kala Crawford then made two free throws at the other end to edge ahead by two. Then, UR's All-American guard made a bomb of a three to put the home Yellowjackets ahead for good with 4:28 remaining.
Two Bengal free throws again cut the lead to just one, but senior Danielle McNabb hit a jump shot and Zywicki another three to extend the margin to 61-55 with 87 seconds left on the clock. The Bengals made just one of six shots in that final timeframe as Rochester was able to hang on for the victory, stopping a two game losing skid.
For the game, UR shot just 19-55 from the floor (35%) and missed 14 free throws which allowed the Bengals to hang around. But Buffalo State couldn't shoot any better, making just 29% (18-62) of their shots.
The freshman Kaminsky scored a career high eight points for UR and has played well recently, scoring 21 points over the last three contests off the bench. McNabb ended with nine points and Katie Weiner added six points and six boards.
Buffalo State was led by Luciani's 18 with Ashley Wallace chipping in 9 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals.
UR now holds a 13-7 all-time series edge over the Bengals and has won four straight between the schools. The 'Jackets now have a long layoff for the holiday break as their next game is January 5th at William Smith College before opening the UAA season the following weekend down at Emory.