University of Rochester women's basketball opened the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back, defeating the Brandeis University Judges, 70-52, to snap a three-game losing streak on Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Rochester (11-10, 4-6 UAA) held Brandeis scoreless for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the contest, scoring the first 10 points of the first quarter and holding the Judges to just four points in the opening period.
 
Abby Gress' three-point play broke the seal and got Rochester on the scoreboard, while a triple and layup from Erin Lillis extended UR's lead to 8-0 with 7:40 left in the first.
 
Tia Poulakidas then sank a jumper to make it 10-0 before Katherine Vaughn finally got the Judges on the scoreboard, but UR continued their run, with a jumper from Deniz Alparslan and two free throws from Franki Gomez to make it a 14-2 ballgame just shy of the four-and-a-half minute mark of the first.
 
Gress and Lillis each added scores before the first-quarter buzzer to make it an 18-4 lead after one, as the 'Jackets took a 14-point lead into the second. However, the Judges got their offense into gear to start the second quarter, with back-to-back triples from Mollie Obar capping off a 13-5 run to make it a six-point game.
 
Claire Candela opened the second quarter scoring with Brandeis' first made three of the contest, while layups from Elena Delicado and Lulu Ohm cut UR's lead to nine, 20-11, with 6:30 until the halftime break.
 
Obar then sank the first of two threes, but Gress matched her on the other end to keep UR up by nine, before Obar hit another to make it a six-point game, 23-17, with 4:40 left in the first half.
 
The Judges would twice pull within six again down the stretch of the second, but the Yellowjackets locked down on defense to end the period, forcing a pair of turnovers while ending the first half on a 5-0 run.
 
Poulakidas went 1-for-2 at the line to push UR's lead up to seven with 2:18 left in the period, while Gomez' driving layup and Annelise Dexter's jumper with just eight seconds till the halftime buzzer gave Rochester an 11-point, 33-22 lead at the break.
 
The Yellowjackets then kept the run going to start the third, scoring the first seven points of the second half to stretch their lead to 18. Alparslan broke the second-half seal with a layup from Gomez off an offensive rebound, while after a Brandeis turnover, Gomez cashed in on the other end with a triple from Lillis.
 
Two free throws from Gress made it an 18-point game, and the 'Jackets would lead by as many as 20 in the third quarter, 55-35, with a minute left. Dexter, Gress and Lillis matched the Judges bucket-for-bucket throughout the third, while Grace Corelli sank a triple with 3:09 left in the third to make it a 19-point game.
 
UR headed into the fourth up 18, 55-37, and inched their way out to a 20-point advantage, with Raquel Williams' jumper and Lillis' coast-to-coast layup giving Rochester a 60-40 advantage with 6:35 remaining.
 
The Judges then made one last push, using a 10-2 run to cut UR's lead down to 12, 62-50 with 3:47 to play, but out of a timeout, Gress sank a pair of layups to stretch the lead back out to 16, and the Judges would score just two points the rest of the way.
 
Brooke Reed's jumper made it a 14-point game with 1:21 left in the fourth, before free throws from Lillis, and another Williams' jumper, finished off the 18-point, 70-52, victory.
 
Rochester picks up its 11th win of the season with the victory, moving to 11-10 (4-6 UAA) with the win, while the Judges fall to 11-10 (4-6 UAA) with the loss.
 
Gress led all scorers with 24 points, adding a team-high 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year, while Lillis added 17 points, tying with Corelli for a team-high three assists.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 42.2 percent for the contest, 5-for-18 from three and 11-for-16 from the free-throw line, while the Judges connected on just 27.4 percent of their attempts, shooting 5-for-18 from three and 13-for-18 from the free-throw line.
 
UR also outrebounded Brandies, 47-40, and outscored the Judges, 38-22 in the paint.
 
Rochester will wrap up its weekend against the top-ranked NYU Violets on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 12:00 p.m. inside the Palestra.