University of Rochester women's basketball never trailed and led by as many as 27 midway through the fourth as they defeated the University of Texas at Dallas, 68-44, on Friday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
With the win, Rochester advances to the Chuck Resler Tournament Championship Game, where they'll face Messiah University on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.
Callie McCulley got Rochester started, going 1-for-2 at the line with a pair of free throws 13 seconds in, as the Yellowjackets scored the first five points of the game on back-to-back layups by Katie Titus before UT Dallas got on the scoreboard.
Titus scored nine of UR's first 19 points as the Yellowjackets raced out to an early 10-2 lead, extending their lead out to 11, 15-4, on Hannah Lindemuth's layup with 4:53 left in the frame before the Comets were forced to take a timeout.
Amanda Crowninshield slowed Rochester's roll with a layup out of the timeout, but Lindemuth followed with another bucket, her sixth point of the quarter with 2:44 to play, before Titus went coast-to-coast and beat the buzzer to put UR on top, 19-10, after one.
Lauren Fulenwider got the scoring started in the second quarter with a three, cutting UR's lead to six, but Maura Leverone answered with a triple on the other end off Titus' assist, putting the 'Jackets back up nine.
The Comets would cut UR's lead down to six on Maddie Elder's three-pointer with 4:39 left in the half, but Rochester answered with a 13-0 run, holding UT Dallas without a basket over the next 3:13.
Paige Gaynier got the run started with a three-ball before two Alexis Sestric free throws made it 31-21 UR with 3:36 remaining.
Gaynier then hit another triple, the second of four on the evening for the sophomore, putting UR up 13, before McCulley finished off the run with five points of her own, a layup and three free throws, to make it an 18-point, 39-21, UR lead with 1:26 to play.
The Comets would break their scoreless stretch on Cierra Trigg's three with just under a minute left, but Rochester's stout defense prevented any more scoring, holding UT Dallas to just 28.6 percent shooting in the first half as they headed into the locker room with a 39-24.
UR then kept it rolling to start the third, opening the period with a 15-4 run, highlighted by two more triples by Paige Gaynier to take a 54-28 lead with 1:22 to play in the third.
Rochester held UT Dallas without a bucket for nearly four minutes in the third quarter, outscoring the Comets, 17-6, in the frame to take a 56-30 lead heading to the fourth.
The Yellowjackets then took their largest lead of the game, 58-31, on Sestric's pull-up jumper to start the fourth, eventually cruising to a 68-44 victory.
Rochester moves to 1-0 with the win, while UT Dallas falls to 0-1 with the loss.
11 Yellowjackets scored a bucket, led by Gaynier's game-high 14, as the sophomore went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Titus notched a double-double, her first as a member of the Yellowjackets, while McCulley fell three points and two blocks shy of a triple-double, notching a program-record eight blocks.
As a team, UR shot 53.3 percent in the first quarter, rolling out to a 19-10 lead, and held UT Dallas to just 21.4 percent shooting, and 3-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Rochester next faces the Messiah University Falcons in the Chuck Resler Tournament Championship Game at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.