ATLANTA – The University of Rochester women's basketball team rallied from a five point deficit in the final minute of the first overtime, then surged past Emory University, 72-68, in double OT to win its sixth consecutive game.
This was the University Athletic Association opener for both teams. Rochester was the pre-season favorite of the UAA coaches. That's a first in school history for the women. The win boosted Rochester's record to 11-1 overall, 1-0 in the UAA. Emory is 6-6 overall, 0-1 in the UAA.
Both teams had contributions throughout the lineup. Rochester's top scorer was Lauren Deming with 17 points and six rebounds. Alexandra Leslie scored 14 points, including UR's first six points of the second OT. She also had 12 rebounds. Brenna James, Brynn Lauer, and Gillian Mair had nine points each. Mair added seven rebounds. Lauren Foley scored six points, none bigger than her three-pointers with 51 seconds left in the first OT which made it a two-point game (65-63 Emory). Lena Ethington had five points, four assists, two steals, and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Emory placed four people in double figures. Erin Lindahl had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Oldshue scored 15 with seven boards before fouling out. Aubrey Jackson-Sherrod had 14 points, 14 boards, and three blocks. Blair Ripley had 10 points and nine rebounds.
The game was marked by 16 ties and 11 lead changes. Rochester made only one basket in the first seven-plus minutes of the third quarter and fell behind, 41-38. (The shot was a three-pointer from James out of the left corner.
Foley drained a three from right wing with 2:36 left in the third to tie it and James hit a trey from the right corner with two minutes left (her second of the period) to give Rochester a 44-41 lead entering the fourth period.
Leslie's layup early in the fourth put UR ahead, 46-41. Jackson-Sherrod scored inside and a minute later, Oldshue drew Leslie's fourth personal foul, sending her to the bench for the next four minutes. Oldshue took a seat with her fourth personal a minute later. Ethington hit a runner and Lauer's triple gave Rochester it's biggest lead of the game, 51-44, with 6:17 left.
A 6-0 Emory run (four points from Allison Chernow) and two free throws from Ripley made it a one-point UR lead (51-50 at 4:10). Leslie and Oldshue both returned. Lauer made two free throws, but Emory tied the score four more times down the stretch in regulation (at 53, 55, 57, and 59). The last points came on an Oldshue layup with 26 seconds left (59-59).
Rochester had the ball for a final shot, but it bounced off Lauer and out of bounds at 0:17. UR's defense was tight and Ripley wound up airballing a three-pointer with three seconds left. In the first OT, Lindahl scored inside twice and Oldshue converted on the baseline for a 65-60 lead with 1:12 to go.
Foley sank her triple from Leslie's assist with 51 seconds left. Ripley missed a jumper at 0:16 and Ethington cleared the rebound. In the offensive half court, Emory tipped the ball over the baseline. Lauer inbounded to Deming who hit a six-footer just outside the lane to tie it at 65-65.
Both teams combined to shoot 0-9 from the floor in the first 1:57 of the second OT (EU 0-5, UR 0-4). Leslie broke the drought with a layup for Rochester's first lead (67-65) since the last minute of the fourth quarter. Lindahl tied it at 1:54. Both teams missed chances before Leslie's layup at 32 seconds put UR ahead to stay, 69-67. Lindahl made one of two from the line at 24 seconds after drawing Deming's fourth foul.
UR held the ball in the halfcourt set and Oldshue fouled Leslie who made both with 11 seconds left (71-68). Lindahl's three-pointer was off-target and Ethington grabbed her 10th rebound, then added a clinching free throw with eight-tenths of a second to play.
Notes: Deming raised her career total to 990 points. She is 14th in career scoring, passing Jen LaBuda (1998-02, 976 points for 14th place). The last player to reach 1,000 points was Leslie who did it vs. Ithaca on December 10, 2016… Head coach Jim Scheible earned his 496th career victory his 355th at Rochester… Mair's nine points and seven boards are a season's high… This is the third time in the 58-game history of the series that it went to overtime. The visiting team has won all three of those games (80-78 Rochester in OT in Atlanta in 1993-94, 73-67 Emory in double OT in the Palestra in 2012-13, 72-68 Rochester in Atlanta in 2017-18)… The last time UR played a double-overtime game was on January 5, 2013 against Emory at the Palestra. The Eagles won, 73-67. Emory beat Rochester, 65-57, in late February in Atlanta that year and won the UAA championship by a game over the Yellowjackets)… Leslie has 1,618 points (third all-time) and 858 rebounds (third all-time)… Three of the four women's teams hosting on Saturday lost in the UAA: Rochester 72-68 at Emory, Carnegie Mellon 69-57 at Case Western Reserve, Chicago 82-76 at Washington. The only home team to win was NYU, 76-64 over Brandeis… Rochester is home next weekend, hosting Case Western Reserve on Friday (women at 6, men at 8) and Carnegie Mellon on Sunday (men at noon, women at 2 pm).