LOUIS ALEXANDER PALESTRA – Rochester's offense kicked into high gear again and this time, it produced an 83-66 victory in the opening round of the 2021 Chuck Resler Invitational. The Yellowjackets defeated SUNY New Paltz. Rochester will play Southern Virginia University which rallied past The College of New Jersey, 60-56, in the other semifinal. That game will tip off at 8 pm and follows the men's final.

Hannah Lindemuth scored 22 points, hitting 8 of 16 from the floor, 5 of eight outside the arc. She added six rebounds and two assists. Alexis Sestric was 7-11 from the floor, 2-4 outside the arc. She finished with 18 points. Kat Jenks chipped in with 10 points. Maura Leverone grabbed four defensive boards, made two steals, and registered eight assists. Sestric had four assists.

Rochester (2-0) shot 47% from the floor for the game (33-70) and 45% from tjhree-point range (9 of 20). UR outscored New Paltz 44-28 in the pain, had 19 points on fast breaks, and got 32 points from its bench.

The Hawks (1-1) scored 16 second chance points on 17 offensive rebounds. Rochester committed 20 turnovers, leading to 16 points for New Paltz. Maddie Gillis led all scorers with 23 points (9-23, 2-4 on threes). She grabbed seven rebounds. Lexi Van Vorst had 16 points. She made four three-pointers and added four rebounds. Brianna Fitzgerald added 14 points, three steals, and five offensive rebounds for New Paltz.

Rochester started cold from the floor in the first period (35% shooting). It led to an eight point deficit midway through the quarter (10-2). That was trimmed to 18-16 before the second quarter began. Rochester used a 26-11 scoring blitz in the second quarter to take a 42-29 lead at the half.

In Saturday's title game, UR will meet a Southern Virginia team that rallied from a deficit of as much as 18 points, and was down by 10, two minutes into the fourth quarter. Savanna Christensen scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the comeback. Emma Camden contributed seven points, eight rebounds, six assists, and five steals.

Julia Setaro scored 17 for TCNJ. Isabella Cafaro had 14 points, and Emily Toy added 10. The Lions will play New Paltz for third place at 3 p.m.