The University of Rochester women's basketball fell to the No. 9-ranked Emory University Eagles, 65-59, in their University Athletic Association (UAA) conference opener on Saturday afternoon inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Both teams struggled to score out of the gate, with the game's first basket coming just past the seven-and-a-half-minute mark of the first. Bridget Miller got the Yellowjackets on the board, while Tatum Olson answered with a pull-up at the other end to break the seal for Emory.
 
The Yellowjackets led by as many as five in the opening stanza, their largest lead of the afternoon, as URochester opened a 9-4 lead with a 5-0 spurt, capped off by Franki Gomez's driving layup with 2:00 left in the first.
 
Emory would pull back within one, 9-8, with four points over the next 38 seconds, before Annelise Dexter and Deniz Alparslan sent Rochester into the quarter break with another five-point, 13-8 advantage.
 
Rochester and Emory combined to shoot just 9-for-33 and 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the opening period, but both sides would pick things up in the second.
 
The Eagles took their first lead of the day to start the second, opening the quarter with a 9-1 run, capped off with the first triple of the game from Riley Allen off Olson's assist 2:19 into the quarter. Allen's triple gave Emory a 17-14 lead just shy of the seven-and-a-half-minute mark, while Claire Groenewould scored Rochester's first field goal of the period on the ensuing possession to make it a one-point game.
 
The 'Jackets and Eagles traded buckets over the next two minutes, before another run from Emory, this one a 5-0 spurt in just over a minute of gameplay, extending the visitors' lead from two to seven with 4:19 left in the half.
 
Both teams shot above 50 percent in the second after combining to shoot just 27 percent in the first, but the Eagles knocked down a trio of threes and made four more baskets.
 
Down seven, Rochester answered back with a 7-0 run of its own, with back-to-back buckets from Deniz Alparslan, the second of which came off an Emory turnover, capped off by Dexter's three, the 'Jackets' lone made triple of the afternoon.
 
Dexter's three leveled the score at 26-all with 2:36 until the halftime buzzer, but Emma Star knocked it down from distance to help Emory retake the lead on the other end. The Eagles would then build their lead back out to six in the waning seconds of the period, but Grace Corelli drew a foul on a late three-point attempt and made all three free throws to send the 'Jackets into the locker room down 36-33.
 
Corelli and Miller then combined for the first three points of the second half to tie the game at 36-all, one of five ties in the contest, but with a 12-4 extended run over the next 5:55, the Eagles took the lead for good.
 
Olson drew a foul and sank a pair on Emory's next possession, and then sank a jumper with 6:21 left in the third to make it a 40-36 Emory advantage. Two more Eagles' buckets sandwiched around Hazell Nickerson's layup once again made it a six-point Emory lead, as Rochester shot just 2-for-9 over the six minutes.
 
Two more layups from Chloe Kreusser and Mary Mullinax ballooned the Eagles' lead to eight, 46-38, Emory's largest lead of the day, but five points before the end of the third kept Rochester within striking distance headed to the fourth.
 
Melis Alparslan cashed a jumper with just over a minute left to make it a six-point game, while off Deniz Alparslan's steal, Claire Groenewoud finished the three-point play to pull the 'Jackets within three.
 
However, Mullinax beat the buzzer with a late score to send Emory into the fourth with a 52-47 lead.
 
Gomez and Miller got Rochester going to start the fourth, cutting the Eagles' lead back down to three, before Olson and Kreusser again made it a six-point game with 6:34 left.
 
Miller and Kreusser traded layups, while Nickerson went 1-for-2 at the foul line, and after a defensive stop, Tia Poulakidas' offensive rebound helped Rochester make it a three-point game. Despite a missed three, Poulakidas grabbed the offensive board, and after an Emory foul, Groenewoud sank a layup to make it a one-possession, 59-56 game with 3:09 left.
 
However, Groenewoud's bucket would prove to be Rochester's last made field goal of the contest, as the 'Jackets shot 0-for-4 and turned it over three times the rest way.
 
Starr went 1-for-2 at the line on Emory's next possession, and after a trio of empty trips down the floor, Stazza made it a six-point game with a steal and score with 38 seconds left. Strazza drew a foul as well, but missed the and-one; however, Emory grabbed the offensive rebound, wasting precious seconds off the clock.
 
Down six with 15 seconds left following a timeout, Miller was fouled and went to the line, but hit just 1-of-2. Rochester then fouled and sent Alexandra Loucopoulos to the line, where she knocked down both. And while Gomez was fouled and did the same with a pair of free throws on the other end, the late deficit proved to be too much for Rochester to overcome.
 
With the 65-59 win, No. 9 Emory moves to 11-1 (1-0 UAA), while the Yellowjackets fall to 7-5 (0-1 UAA).
 
Gomez was the lone Yellowjacket in double figures with 10 points, while Miller added eight points and eight boards.
 
As a team, Rochester shot just 37.1 percent and 1-for-16 from distance, while Emory shot 37.9 percent, but 3-for-21 from three.
 
The Yellowjackets next hit the road for the first of two UAA road games, beginning with a matchup at unbeaten and No. 1-ranked NYU on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in New York, NY.