The University of Rochester reserves posted a big game, scoring over half of the teams points in a 75-70 win over Case Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon at the Louis Alexander Palestra in a University Athletic Association women's basketball matchup.
 
Overall, the six Yellowjacket bench players combined for 44 points, led by sophomores Deniz Alparslan and Macy Bacon who each finished with a team-high 15 points. Melis Alparslan and Hazell Nickerson each added seven points apiece as the Yellowjacket reserves outscored CWRU's bench players 44-8 in the victory. Rochester's Annelise Dexter paced the starters in the game scoring 12 points.
 
With the win, Rochester improves to 9-7 and is now 2-3 in the UAA, while Case Western Reserve is 8-8 and 1-4 in conference contests. The Yellowjackets extend their win streak at home over the Spartans to 24 straight games, with CWRU's last win in the Palestra coming back in the 1999-2000 season.
 
A high-scoring first quarter saw the score end 20-20. CWRU started out with the early lead, sitting up 11-4 after a Maura Schorr layup. Schorr had seven points in the opening three and a half minutes.
 
A Claire Groenewoud jump shot started an 11-5 spurt which pulled the Yellowjackets within one point. M. Alparslan ended the run with five straight points, including a 3-pointer following a pass from her sister Deniz.
 
In the second, it was another quick start to the period that allowed the Spartans to take a nine-point lead. Jordyn Call and Mya Hartjes hit back-to-back triples for CWRU that extended the lead to 33-24.
 
URochester settled in over the next three minutes though, scoring ten of the games next eleven points to pull even on the scoreboard at 34-all. D. Alparslan was the driving force in the run, scoring eight of the Yellowjackets points.
 
At intermission, Case Western Reserve held a slim one-point advantage, sitting up 36-35.
 
The second half started with five straight points by the Spartans before Rochester's second unit began to chip away at the lead.
 
Eventually, a 10-2 run gave URochester the lead 48-45 after Nickerson hit a layup inside. Bacon made a triple and layup in the run while Groenewoud added a 3-pointer, one of six on the day for the Yellowjackets.
 
Emily Plachta quickly responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game for CWRU, and after Hartjes added a layup, the Yellowjackets scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to head into the fourth with a 3-point lead, up 55-52.
 
The final stanza remained tight throughout. Bacon sank her third 3-pointer of the game to put URochester up 62-57 with under seven minutes to play.
 
With the lead down to three points, Bacon made identical pull up jumpers over the next three UR possessions to make the score 68-61 in favor of the home team.
 
D. Alparslan then capped the six-point burst with a rebound and coast-to-coast bucket. She finished with a double-double, setting career-high's in points, rebounds (11), assists (5) and field goals made (7).
 
Over the next two minutes, URochester was held off the scoreboard, and saw CWRU score five straight points to cut into the lead.
 
With time winding down, Grace Corelli was fouled and sank both free throws to make the lead six. CWRU quickly scored and was forced to foul again.
 
Over the final seconds, Rochester made three of four attempts at the free throw line to keep the Spartans at bay, holding on for the win.
 
Overall in the game, Rochester shot well, making 45% of shots from the floor (30-67) and 43% from distance (6-14) while Case Western Reserve was limited to 32% shooting overall (25-78) and 36% shooting from 3-point range (8-22).
 
The Spartans leading scorer was Hartjes who had a game-high 18 points. Schorr finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Plachta also secured a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.
 
URochester now hits the road for two more conference games in the Midwest next weekend, playing UChicago on Friday and nationally-ranked WashU on Sunday.