Katie Titus fell two assists shy of a triple-double and Alexis Sestric scored 12 of her 20 points in the fourth as the University of Rochester women's basketball opened University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play with a 75-66 win on the road against the Emory University Eagles on Saturday at the Woodruff PE Center.
 
Titus got the Yellowjackets going in the opening frame, scoring eight of her game-high 26 points in the opening period, as UR took an early 2-0 lead. Mariane Auza quickly answered for the Eagles on the other end, as Emory and Rochester went back and forth for much of the early going.
 
The first quarter saw four ties and three lead changes, and Emory took its first lead of the afternoon, 6-4, on Auza's jumper with 7:45 to play in the first.
 
The Yellowjackets would quickly tie things up on Kelsey Stites jumper, but the Eagles would take what would end up being their largest lead of the game, 12-8, on back-to-back buckets by Erin Martin just over four minutes into the frame.
 
However, the 'Jackets quickly tied things up on two straight from Titus, before four more from Maura Leverone gave UR a 16-15 advantage with just under four minutes left in the opening period.
 
Callie McCulley would then score the final three points of the first, sinking a jumper with 2:16 left and knocking down a free throw with 1:47 left to give UR a four-point, 19-15 lead after one.
 
Alexis Sestric then got on the scoreboard to start the second, extending Rochester's lead to six. Titus and Brock then went bucket-for-bucket over a two-minute stretch, before Emory evened the score and pulled ahead with an 8-0 run.
 
But McCulley quickly took the lead right back for Rochester with a bucket and the foul, converting at the charity stripe to give the 'Jackets a 28-27 lead with 4:32 to play in the second.
 
Izzy Munson answered on the other end to retake the lead for the Eagles, but the Yellowjackets would wrap up the first half on a 9-2 run, taking the lead on Titus' layup from McCulley, and finishing off the first half with a layup from Haley Dumiak to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room.

And while Auza got the scoring started for Emory in the third, the 'Jackets would match the Eagles point-for-point throughout much of the third, until a 12-4 run gave UR its largest lead of the afternoon, 55-43 with 1:43 left in the third.
 
With their lead cut to four, Titus scored four straight, and then McCulley and Sestric combined for six-in-a-row to make it a 12-point lead with just over two minutes to play in the third.
 
Auza slowed UR's run with two of her career-high 20 points, but Titus knocked down her 19th and 20th points on the other end, once again giving UR a 12-point advantage.
 
And while the Eagles would cut that down to just eight, 55-47, headed to the fourth, Titus continued her strong outing, combining with McCulley to score the first four points of the fourth to go back up by 12.
 
Emory though, wouldn't go down without a fight and pulled within single digits, cutting UR's lead back down to eight, 59-51, on Paige Gross' layup with 7:40 to play.
 
Titus went 1-for-2 at the line before Gross hit another, but this time, Sestric answered with the Yellowjackets' first made three of the afternoon, putting Rochester up by double digits with back-to-back made three-pointers, 66-55, once again.
 
However, Morgan Laudick answered Sestric's second three with one of her own on the other end, as both teams started to light it up from the floor in the fourth.
 
Sestric added another bucket, one of four made field goals and 12 fourth-quarter points for the senior, putting UR back up 10, 68-58, with under three minutes to play.
 
Auza scored a layup and Daniella Aronsky knocked down a three to cut Rochester's lead down to seven, but Sestric again found her range, knocking down her third three of the fourth to ice the game and put UR back up by 10, 73-63, with 1:28 left.
 
And though Aronsky hit another late three-pointer to pull Emory with seven with just over 30 seconds left, Sestric and Titus hit their free throws down the stretch to finish off the 75-68 victory.
 
#12 UR moves to 11-1 (1-0 UAA) with the win, while Emory, who received votes in this week's D3hoops.com poll, falls to 8-2 (0-1 UAA).
 
Titus led all scorers with 26 points, adding 10 rebounds, a career-high eight assists, five steals and three blocks, notching a double-double, her sixth of the year, but falling two assists shy of a triple-double.
 
Sestric joined Titus in double figures, scoring 20 points, and shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, while McCulley also tallied a double-double, her fourth of the year, tallying 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five assists and three blocks.
 
As a team, UR shot 48.4 percent, while Emory shot 39.4 percent. Neither team could find their touch from three, with the two squads combining to go 7-for-36 from beyond the arc.
 
With Titus and McCulley combining for 42, Rochester did much of their damage around the rim, outscoring Emory, 52-36 in the paint, and 15-8 off turnovers.
 
The Yellowjackets will next host Case Western Reserve (10-2, 1-0 UAA) for their conference home opener on Friday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.