HENRIETTA, NY – University of Rochester women's basketball led 48-39 at the halftime break but fell to the Nazareth University Golden Flyers, 87-78, in their second game of the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout on Saturday evening inside Clark Gymnasium.
 
It was a tale of two halves as Rochester shot 57.1 percent in the first half, but just 25.7 percent in the third and fourth quarters, as the Golden Flyers outscored UR, 48-30 in the second half, shooting 53.6 percent (15-for-28).
 
The Yellowjackets got off to a hot start, opening the game on a 15-0 run and holding Nazareth scoreless for nearly four minutes. Erin Lillis broke the seal with a pair of free throws at the 9:21 mark and added seven more points over the next 2:48 before Molly Benetti got the Golden Flyers on the scoreboard with a three-pointer just shy of the six-minute mark.
 
Tia Poulakidas answered Benetti's triple with a layup from Miller, pushing the 'Jackets lead out to 14, 17-3, before seven-straight points from the Golden Flyers made it a seven-point deficit, 17-10, with just under four minutes to play in the first.
 
Abby Gress got on the scoreboard with two free throws that Katie MacLachlan matched, as UR and Nazareth went back-and-forth down the first-quarter stretch, with UR heading into the second with a nine-point, 25-16 lead.
 
UR then stretched their lead out to 17 to start the second, going on a 12-2 run after Benetti scored the first points of the period. Layups by Gress and Poulakidas again made it a double-digit lead, while Gress sank two more buckets over the two-plus minute stretch as UR extended its lead from just seven to 17 with a little over seven minutes left in the first half.
 
And despite a pair of triples from Nazareth, Rochester kept on rolling, extending its lead to the largest of the night 48-30, on layups from Gress and Claire Groenewoud, both assisted by Grace Corelli.
 
However, the tide would begin to turn as the Golden Flyers ended the first half on a 9-0 run, cutting UR's lead to just nine, 48-39, at the halftime break.
 
The lead would remain there to start the third, as Lillis again broke the seal, while Gress' three and Annelise Dexter's jumper at the 6:03 mark made it an 11-point game. A quick eight points from the Golden Flyers though, make it a three-point game as UR went silent for nearly three minutes, but the 'Jackets made their free throws down the stretch of the third, ending the quarter on an 8-6 run to lead by five, 65-60, headed to the fourth.
 
Nazareth quickly pulled within two to start the fourth on layups by Benetti and MacLachlan, before Rylee Drahos and Poulakidas answered with buckets of their own. Those two buckets would be UR's last points for nearly three minutes though, as a 9-0 run, capped off by five points from Tessa Schuey, gave the Golden Flyers their first lead of the night, 73-69, with a little over four minutes two play.
 
Gress finally got Rochester back on the scoreboard with two free throws a little over a minute later, making it a one-point game, but buckets from Leah Fusilli and MacLachlan, as well as a UR turnover, helped stretch Nazareth's lead out to six.
 
Another Gress bucket, this time a triple, again made it a one-possession game, but the Golden Flyers hit their free throws down the stretch, solidifying their lead and extending it out to nine.
 
Gress' triple at the two-minute mark would be UR's last field goal till the final 30 seconds, and with Nazareth hitting 8-of-9 from the free-throw line down the stretch, the 'Jackets dropped their second-straight, this one by the final score of 87-78.
 
With the win, Nazareth moves to 2-2 on the year, while the 'Jackets fall back 3-3 with the loss.
 
Gress scored a game-high 26 points, adding seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Poulakidas and Lillis joined the graduate in double figures, with 18 and 11 points, respectively, while Poulakidas grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and Lillis had a team-best four steals.

For her efforts across the two games, Gress was named to the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout All-Tournament Team.
 
For Nazareth, five players scored in double figures, led by MacLachlan's 22 points.
 
Rochester will look to bounce back when it hits the road once again in its final contest before Thanksgiving Break, making the short trip to Geneva, NY for a matchup against William Smith College on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 6:00 p.m.