A strong third quarter push by the University of Rochester women's basketball team propelled the Yellowjackets to a 72-60 victory over Case Western Reserve University on Friday night at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Overall in the third, Rochester outscored the Spartans 22-9, with all three of the other periods being separated by two points or less.
 
Rochester improves to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the UAA. Case Western Reserve meanwhile, drops to 6-11 on the season and is 1-5 in conference play. The same two teams meet again in one week in Cleveland, as this week and next are conference wrap-around weekends.
 
After trailing by two a halftime, graduate student Erin Lillis opened the third quarter scoring by draining one of three 3-pointers on the night to put the 'Jackets in front. Abby Gress followed with a layup off a pass from Lillis and Rochester would never look back.
 
Lillis ended up scoring ten of her game-high 20 points in the third stanza.
 
CWRU's Jordan Call sank a triple to pull the Spartans within one, down 42-41, but UR embarked on an 8-0 afterwards to surge in front by nine.
 
Lillis hit a pair of free throws and had a tremendous 1-on-1 basket in the lane during the run that also featured a Gress driving layup and pull-up jumper from Annelise Dexter.
 
Gress finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, while Dexter led the 'Jacket reserves with 10 points and five boards.
 
In the final minute and a half of the third, Dexter and Grace Corelli each hit a 3-pointer to extend UR's lead to double-digits, heading into the fourth.
 
The Yellowjackets scored seven of the first nine points in the fourth to reach a 16-point margin and held off the Spartans the rest of the way.
 
On the night, UR drained ten 3-pointers, hitting 45.5% from behind-the-arc. CWRU hit 11 triples in the game, but needed 12 more attempts to reach that number, shooting at just 32.4% from distance. Both teams finished at similar shooting numbers overall, with UR making 43.5% (27-62) and Case Western Reserve ending at 34.3% (23-67).
 
Joining Rochester's top three scorers were Raquel Williams who finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals and Franki Gomez who had eight points, including a pair of 3-point shots.
 
In the early going, the Spartans used some strong 3-point shooting to grab an 11-5 lead just over four minutes into the game.
 
Rochester rattled off a 10-0 run in the next two minutes to move in front, with a Deniz Alparslan layup making the score 15-11. Lillis and Gress also hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the 'Jacket spurt.
 
Case Western Reserve edged ahead by two, 20-18, later in the quarter, but Corelli's driving layup with 15 seconds remaining pulled the two teams even on the scoreboard after ten minutes.
 
The Yellowjackets had a slow start to the second quarter, making just two of its first ten shots, allowing the Spartans to reach their biggest lead of the night, up seven, following a Maura Schorr 3-pointer.
 
Trailing 33-26, UR quickly answered to erase the lead, with Corelli sinking a layup and both Gomez and Dexter hitting big 3-pointers to move Rochester in front 34-33.
 
With just over a minute to go in the half, Nyah Moore hit a 3-pointer for the visitors, sending CWRU to the locker room with a 36-34 lead.
 
Mya Hartjes finished as CWRU's leading scorer with 17 points on the night, She made five 3-pointers and added eight rebounds to her stat line. Emily Plachta scored 10 points, while Jordyn Call chipped in eight off the bench for the Spartans.
 
Up next, Rochester hosts 25th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday afternoon in the Palestra, with tip-off set for 12 pm. CWRU travels down to Emory on Sunday at the same time to complete its UAA weekend schedule.