Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 26, 2018 – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team fell to No. 7 University of Rochester 69-65 Friday evening in a tightly contested University Athletic Association (UAA) game at the Louis Alexander Palestra arena.
The Bears dropped to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in UAA action while the Yellowjackets improved to 16-1 and 6-0 within the UAA. WashU finished the game shooting 37.5-percent from the field (24-64) despite hitting 10-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Junior Rachael Sondag led WashU's lineup with 11 points, while junior Stephanie Botkin also reached double figures with 10 points. Junior Madeline Homoly finished the game with nine points and 11 rebounds, while senior Natalie Orr added nine rebounds.
WashU also finished with 13 steals as senior Shelby Mann, junior Katie Claussner and Botkin totaled three apiece.
Ten unanswered points keyed the Bears largest lead of the first half, 21-9. Botkin scored five of WashU's points on the run with a trey and layup which paired with Homoly's triple and a good jumper by junior Becca Clark-Callender.
Rochester trimmed the lead to 23-12 by the end of the first quarter and took the lead late in the second quarter on a jumper by Lauren Deming to cap a 16-4 run for the Yellowjackets. Orr put the Bears back ahead with a layup and a last second three from junior Caroline Ballard gave the Bears a 32-30 halftime lead.
WashU and Rochester tied the score four times in the third quarter but Rochester closed out the quarter with six unanswered points to lead 56-49.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Orr and Botkin in the fourth quarter brought WashU within a single point, 59-58, with 2:54 remaining. However, Rochester sank four consecutive free throws to take a five-point advantage.
With less than a minute to play the Bears scored three baskets to pull within one bucket, including a triple by Sondag with 29 seconds left. Deming scored four of the final six points for Rochester to help the Yellowjackets close out the 69-65 victory.
Rochester had three players reach double figures in scoring as Alexandra Leslie finished with a game-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Up next for WashU's UAA road trip is a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday against Emory University. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.