The University of Rochester women's basketball team leaned heavily on sophomore center
Danielle McNabb during the final five minutes of play to hang on to a 73-61 win over Case Western Reserve University Friday night. The win moves the Yellowjackets to 15-0 (4-0 UAA) and matches the best start in Rochester history (03-04, 08-09).
The Rochester women got off to a quick start in their first UAA home game of the season rattling off a 19-0 run early on to seize control of the game 22-6. During the stretch, UR displayed their balanced scoring with five different players scoring. In that time, Case went without a point for over six minutes.
The stifling UR defense held the Spartans (8-7, 1-3 UAA) in check for over nine minutes in between made field goals with the cold streak ending after a Brooke Orcutt three-pointer halfway through the first half.
Rochester kept up its blistering pace after
Kristyn Wright and
Laney Ming jumpers made the lead 24 at 37-13. Case then trimmed the lead down to 13 after an Erica Iafelice and Erin Hollinger combined on a mini 7-0 Spartan run. UR then answered with a 6-0 run to build back the lead.
The half ended with the score 43-29 in favor of the home Yellowjackets. Leading the way for UR was Wright who had 10 points along with McNabb and
Jackie Walker who had eight apiece. Case's leaders were Evy Iacono and Iafelice who scored nine and seven points respectively. Rochester shot a combined 50% (15-30) from the floor in the first half while the Spartans shot just 33% (9-27).
Two Wright 3-pointers early in the 2
nd half showed that UR wouldn't ease up and let Case back into the game easily. Hollinger and Iafelice showed toughness for the Spartans and engineered a 15-7 run to help get Case back within nine points with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
The score was stuck at 57-48 in favor of the Yellowjackets for nearly four minutes until two
Laney Ming free throws ended the scoring drought. The Spartans then answered back with an 8-0 run behind strong play both inside and outside from the 6-foot senior Hollinger. The UR lead was slimmed to just three.
That's when the sophomore McNabb took the game over for Rochester. She hit a free throw, followed by a big turnaround lay in to make the lead six with just fewer than two minutes remaining. Then after a Case miss, UR brought the ball up the court and McNabb calmly hit a straight on 3-pointer that seemed to put the game away. Ming nailed 6-6 free throws at the end of the game that finished off the Spartans.
Rochester's leading scorer was McNabb who netted 18 points (6-9 FG), grabbed 8 rebounds and also had 3 steals. Wright finished with 16 points (4-5 3-pt FG) and
Laney Ming added 14, including going 10 for 10 from the charity stripe.
Case was paced by Hollinger who finished with 17 points. Iafelice netted 13 points along with 6 rebounds while Iacono finished 12 points.
Rochester next plays on Sunday against Carnegie Mellon at home, while looking to set a new school record for wins to start a season.
