BUFFALO, NY – University of Rochester women's basketball wrapped up the 2022 portion of their 2022-23 campaign with a 71-56 win over the Buffalo State College Bengals on Tuesday evening at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

After Callie McCulley got the scoring started with 9:20 to play in the first, going 1-for-2 at the free throw line, Buffalo State took their first and only lead of the night on Grace Carey's jumper with 9:01 left in the opening period.

Katie Titus answered Carey's jumper with a layup, and Alexis Sestric scored five straight, as UR answered with a 7-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way.

Rochester raced out to a 13-4 lead in the opening period, forcing the Bengals to use a timeout, and though Buffalo State cut UR's lead down to just four, 21-17, at the end of the first, the Yellowjackets quickly got things going again in the second.

Titus started the second-quarter scoring out with a layup with 9:06 till halftime, opening a 12-2 run for UR as the 'Jackets took a 33-19 lead on Maura Leverone's triple 3:21 into the second period.

Just over a minute later, free throws by Sestric and Claire Groenewoud made it a 16-point Rochester lead, before Paige Gaynier's three-pointer with under two minutes to play brought UR's lead out to 17.

Carly Atty would answer with a three-pointer on the other end, but Gaynier would hit one more before the halftime break, giving the Yellowjackets a 44-26 lead heading into the locker room.

And though Tashawni Cornfield got the scoring started for Buffalo State in the third, the 'Jackets would keep on rolling extending their lead out to 23, 53-30, as they held the Bengals to just four points over the first 8:17 of the third.

Nora Fairbanks-Lee capped off UR's 9-2 run over a six-and-a-half minute stretch with a layup, while Titus knocked down a pair of layups to notch her fourth double-double of the year.

Brianna Smith slowed UR's run and finally broke the seal for the Bengals with 1:21 to play in the third, but Fairbanks-Lee hit another jumper to end the frame, sending Rochester to the fourth up 55-32.

In total, the Yellowjackets outscored the Bengals, 34-15 over the second and third periods, holding Buffalo State to just six made field goals.

Rochester would then take its largest lead early on in the fourth, after McCulley found Hailey Bruneau for a triple to extend UR's lead out to 25, 60-35, with 8:25 to play.

And while the Bengals would close the lead back down below 20 over the final stretch, buckets by Kelsey Stites, Carina Ciampi, Fairbanks-Lee and Trinity Johnson helped finish off the 71-56 victory.

Rochester moves to 9-1 with the win, while the Bengals drop to 1-9 on the year.

Sestric and Titus each led UR with 12 points, while Titus added a double-double with a team-high 14 rebounds. Every 'Jacket that saw the court scored, with six players scoring six or more points.

Leverone and Sestric each tallied four assists, while defensively, McCulley led the way with three steals and Bruneau and Titus each notched a block.

The Yellowjackets shot 36.5 percent but knocked down 10 three-pointers, attempting 32, tied for the third-most in a game in program history.

Defensively, UR held Buffalo State to 5-for-22 from three and forced 21 Bengal turnovers, which they turned into 26 points. Rochester also outrebounded Buffalo State, 58-38, including 23-13 on the offensive glass.

The 19th-ranked Yellowjackets will get things going in 2023 following the holiday break at home against RIT on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.