HENRIETTA, NY – The #15 ranked St. John Fisher College basketball team posted a wire-to-wire 68-54 win over the University of Rochester on Thursday evening at RIT as part of the annual Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout.

Rochester falls to 3-2 on the season with the loss, dropping its first ever game in the tournament, now in its fourth year of existence, featuring UR, SJFC, RIT and Nazareth.  The Cardinals improve to 4-0 on the season following the victory.

UR's leading scorer was Julianna Okoniewski who had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.  Hannah Lindemuth and Lauren Foley each scored eight points while Tessa Ludwick had seven.

Four St. John Fisher starters finished in double-figures, led by Ella Eckert's 18 points and 13 rebounds.  Julia Mertsock had a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards.  Miranda Lynch added 13 points while Leah Koonmen chipped in 11.

In the opening quarter, neither team could get in a rhythm offensively, both shooting 30% and neither making a 3-point shot.  After 10 minutes, SJFC led 11-8.

After Callie McCulley's 3-pointer tied the score at 15 with four minutes left in the opening half, the Cardinals scored ten of the next 14 points to edge ahead by six, 25-19, eventually taking a four-point lead to intermission after a Lindemuth jumper beat the halftime buzzer.

St. John Fisher scored five straight points to open the second half and went ahead by nine following Mertsock's layin with 8:16 left in the third.  Rochester followed with six straight from Lindemuth to claw back within three.

Back-to-back layups inside by Mallory Ward ignited an 8-0 spurt which gave SJFC the first double-digit lead of the game, going up 40-29 with 3:16 left in the quarter.

UR pulled back within five after Foley made a jumper and triple, with Okoniewski adding a free throw, but that is as close as the Yellowjackets would get the rest of the game.

Lynch sank a layup to end the third and the Cardinals opened the fourth quarter with nine straight points to go up 51-35 with 7:41 on the clock.  Down the stretch, St. John Fisher made its free throws, sinking 15-of-18 in the fourth quarter alone to seal the win.

For the game, UR shot 30% from the field, made four 3-pointers and grabbed 33 rebounds.  Fisher held the big rebound advantage with 52, adding 37% shooting and were 22-25 (88%) from the charity stripe.

In other action on Thursday at the Mark's Tournament, RIT defeated Nazareth 66-60.  On Saturday, Rochester will play Nazareth at 6 pm and RIT hosts St. John Fisher at 8 pm.