University of Rochester women's basketball pushed its win streak to five games, defeating the Hamilton College Continentals, 70-64, on Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Despite leading for much of the contest, the Yellowjackets headed to the fourth tied at 46 with the Continentals, following a triple by Hannah Bernstein late in the third quarter. Hamilton outscored URochester, 18-13, in the third, and took their first lead of the night to start the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws from Bernstein with 9:03 to play.
 
The Yellowjackets quickly retook the lead on the other end on a three-point play by Claire Groenewoud, but five quick points from the Continentals gave Hamilton its largest lead of the night, 54-49, with 7:45 left.
 
Kendall Harris answered Groenewoud's three-point play with a take to the hoop, and after a turnover and foul, Annabelle Semeter connected on two free throws to give Hamilton a 52-49 lead. Semeter made it 54-49 a possession later, but the 'Jackets would regroup following the media timeout, and get the ball into Annelise Dexter, who converted the layup and drew the foul to make it a two-point game just shy of the seven-minute mark.
 
Then, after Zoe Myslewicz went 1-for-2 at the line, Peyton Jones pulled Rochester within one with a layup from Bridget Miller at the 6:36 mark of the fourth.
 
A little over a minute later, Miller scored the first two of her 10 fourth-quarter points, briefly giving Rochester a 56-55 advantage. Harris and the Continentals would quickly take it back on their next possession, though, as Harris connected on two free throws, while Erica Hills turned Rochester over and scored two more points to make it a 59-56 Hamilton lead.
 
That'd be the Continentals' last made field goal for a near two-minute stretch, though, as URochester outscored Hamilton, 9-0 over the next 1:36, and 14-5 over the final 3:45.
 
Jim Scheible used a timeout to set up Rochester's offense, finding Miller again, who went 2-for-2 at the foul line to make it a one-point game. Then, after a miss on the other end, Deniz Alparslan corralled one of her team-high seven rebounds and found Franki Gomez on the fastbreak.
 
Gomez knocked down a three from the top of the arc to give the Yellowjackets a 61-59 lead they'd never relinquish with 3:33 left to play. Miller added two more points after another stop, while Dexter knocked down a pair of free throws on Rochester's next offensive possession to cap off the 9-0 run and make it a six-point game with 2:20 remaining.
 
Harris wouldn't let Hamilton go away quietly, though, cashing an open triple from the top of the arc, and then sinking a driving layup to again make it a one-point game, this time with 1:33 left. However, URochester would hold Hamilton scoreless the rest of the way, finishing the final minute-and-a-half on a 5-0 run.
 
The 'Jackets called a timeout after Harris' second bucket, and again from Miller down low for a clutch, two-point basketball. Up three, this time, Harris couldn't find the bottom on the other end, and then after another defensive stop, Deniz Alparslan went 1-for-2 at the line to stretch the lead to four, 68-64, with 37 seconds left.
 
Another miss and foul sent Grace Corelli to the line, who also went 1-for-2 to make it a five-point game with 21 seconds left. Two more missed threes, and another made free throw from Corelli finally put the game on ice, with the Yellowjackets on top, 70-64.
 
The Yellowjackets led by eight in the first quarter and as many as nine in the second, as URochester forced 12 first-half turnovers and held Hamilton to just 27.6 percent shooting. The 'Jackets scored the first six points of the contest and led 13-5 following a driving layup from Deniz Alparslan, but seven first-quarter fouls put the Continentals in the bonus late in the first, and Hamilton would trail by just four at the quarter break.
 
Back-to-back layups by Hazell Nickerson and Dexter stretched Rochester's lead out to nine, its largest of the night, midway through the second, before a 9-0 Hamilton run closed the gap to two. Taylor Lambo's layup capped off the Continental charge, cutting Rochester's lead to 25-23 with 5:02 to play in the first half.
 
A Harris triple with 3:02 left in the quarter made it a one-point game, but the Yellowjackets would end the half on a 6-2 run, with three-straight layups from Tia Poulakidas, Gomez and Dexter helping URochester take a 33-28 lead at the halftime break.
 
Hamilton kept things close for much of the third, holding Rochester to just 5-for-15 from the floor and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the period, before the Continentals closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to tie the game heading into the fourth.
 
The win moves Rochester to 5-3 on the year, while the Continentals drop to 5-3 with the loss. The five-game win streak is Rochester's first since 2022-23.
 
Gomez led URochester with 15 points and four steals, one of four Yellowjackets to score in double figures. Dexter added 14 points, while Groenewoud and Miller each scored 10 and added three assists.
 
For Hamilton, Harris had a game-high 21 points, adding 10 rebounds to notch a double-double.
 
Rochester shot 37.5 percent for the contest, while the Continentals shot just 31.7 percent. URochester also outscored Hamilton, 48-26 in the paint, and tallied 15 points off 17 Hamilton turnovers.
 
The Yellowjackets will play their final game of the calendar year on Sunday, Dec. 7 when they host Stevens at 1:00 p.m.