ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Another incredible season for the No. 17 Marymount women's basketball team came to a close on Saturday night, falling in the second round of the NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Championship to host and No. 15 University of Rochester, 53-42.
The battle in the Louis Alexander Palestra had the teams exchange the lead seven times, while the Yellowjackets led the game for 20:12 and the Saints for 17:52.
The scoring started up with the Saints (25-4) dropping in a three-pointer out of the hands of junior Tyffani McQueen, but that is the only points they'd register for the opening seven minutes. However, the defense played soundly through that stretch, holding Rochester to just six points until sophomore Regan Lohr knocked in a three of her own to tie to the game at 6-6.
In the closing two minutes of the quarter, Rochester hit a short 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead into the first break.
A lot changed in the restart, as Marymount ignited on a 9-0 run to bump out to a six-point lead at 17-11. Through more than seven minutes of the second quarter, the Saints held the Yellowjackets without a bucket.
Rochester found some life before the half, pushing a 7-0 run of its own to take a slight 22-21 advantage into the locker room.
The third quarter remained tight with no one getting more than a three-point advantage and four lead changes, but the Yellowjackets entered the final frame with a one-point lead, 34-33.
In the fourth, neither team saw a shot drop in until almost two minutes in when Rochester hit a three to seal up a lead that wouldn't falter the rest of the way. Marymount made critical baskets to keep the game close down the stretch, but when the fouls initiated free throws, the Yellowjackets capitalized to hold off the Saints.
Lohr paced the offense for the night with 12 points, while McQueen added 11. Senior Leah Hurst finished with eight points to go along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while classmate Nicole Viscuso knocked in six points, three rebounds and an assist.
As a team, the Saints shot 32.7 percent from the floor and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Marymount concludes the 2017-18 season with a 25-4 overall record, the CAC regular-season championship, and the program's 13th CAC title. Hurst and Viscuso graduate with incredible careers, including two regular-season championships, a CAC title and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament where they went 4-3 and a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2017.