HENRIETTA, NY – University of Rochester women's basketball outscored the Tigers, 16-6, in the third quarter and 32-17 in the second half to defeat the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), 64-53, in their final non-conference clash of the season on Tuesday evening inside Clark Gymnasium.
 
With the win, Rochester will head into University Athletic Association play with a 7-4 record, while the Tigers drop to 5-5 with the loss.
 
Both teams got off to a hot start, combining to shoot 20-of-30 from the field in the opening frame. Faye Kaplinski got the scoring started with a pair of free throws just shy of the 9:30 mark of the first, while Franki Gomez answered with a layup on Rochester's ensuing possession to even the score at two.
 
The two sides traded buckets over the next couple of minutes until the Tigers opened up a five-point lead, on Ben Kayser-Cochran's triple, three of a game-high 20 points for the sophomore.
 
Rochester responded with five straight of their own to tie the score at nine on Claire Groenewoud's three-point play with 6:23 left in the first, while threes from Hannah Durand and Grace Corelli again evened the score, this time at 12-all, with a little over five-and-a-half remaining in the quarter.
 
Another quick spurt gave the Tigers a seven-point advantage, 19-12, before Macy Bacon and Kayser-Cochran traded triples to make it a 22-15 game. The Tigers would hit two more threes down the stretch of the first as RIT shot 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the opening period.
 
Kayser-Cochran answered another Corelli triple to stretch RIT's lead back out to five, while Ella Wilson hit another to make it a four-point game after one, 28-24, after Melis Alparslan and Gomez contributed layups to bring Rochester back within one.
 
Both teams would step up defensively to start the second, with a nearly three-minute scoreless stretch to open the period before Groenewoud pulled the 'Jackets within a score with a layup just shy of the 7:30 mark.
 
A 6-0 run over the next two minutes gave RIT its largest lead of the night, 34-26, with 4:33 left in the half, but Rochester would hold the Tigers to just one bucket the rest of the period. After combining for 52 points in the first quarter, URochester and RIT scored just 16 points in the second, shooting a combined 7-for-35 in the frame.
 
Deniz Alparslan answered Kayser-Cochran's layup with one of her own to bring Rochester back within six just past the four-minute mark, and then hit a pair of free throws a little over a minute later to make it a four-point game.
 
Alparslan's four points helped Rochester end the first half on a 6-2 run, as the sophomore added another bucket with 19 seconds remaining to send the Yellowjackets into the locker room down just four, 36-32.
 
The Yellowjackets then quickly surged ahead to start the third, opening the quarter with a 12-2 run and holding the Tigers to just six points and 3-of-13 shooting while forcing seven turnovers.
 
Back-to-back three pointers from Corelli gave Rochester a one-point lead with 7:31 to play in the third, while Bridget Miller's layup just past the six-and-a-half-minute mark stretched URochester's lead to three.
 
Bacon sank another triple to make it a six-point, 44-38, lead before the Tigers got back on the board, but Melis Alparslan and Miller would find the bottom and help Rochester hold RIT scoreless over the final five minutes of the third to take a 48-42 lead into the fourth.
 
Another Bacon triple got Rochester started in the fourth, while Hazell Nickerson went 1-for-2 at the line to give Rochester a double-digit advantage, 52-42, less than a minute into the period.
 
A 5-0 Tigers' spurt cut Rochester's lead in half, while four points from Kayser-Cochran again made it a five-point game, 56-51, with 4:16 to play. However, after getting a stop, Corelli and Nickerson answered with back-to-back threes to push Rochester's lead back up to nine, 62-53, with 2:41 left.
 
Erin DiPaola answered Corelli's three with a bucket to make it a six-point game, but after missing the free throw to pull RIT within five, Nickerson's trey helped put the game out of reach, while a late layup by Gomez pushed the final tally to 64-53.
 
Corelli led Rochester with 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a team-high three steals. Miller joined Corelli in double figures with 11 points, adding a team-high eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
 
Gomez led Rochester with five assists as the Yellowjackets shot 39.7 percent for the contest, including 9-for-21 from three, while the Tigers connected on 36.2 percent of their attempts, and 6-of-18 from three.
 
The Yellowjackets will open conference play on Saturday, Jan. 10, with a matchup against No. 9 Emory at 2:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.