The University of Rochester women's basketball team hung with the top-ranked New York University Violets for the entirety of the first half, but NYU used a big second half and came away with a 78-51 win on Friday evening in a University Athletic Association matchup at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
With the win, NYU (21-0, 10-0) extends its Division III record win streak to 83 games overall, spanning nearly three full seasons. URochester falls to 9-12 overall and is 2-8 in UAA play.
 
In the opening quarter, the Yellowjackets never trailed, vaulting out to a 6-0 lead with baskets from Tia Poulakidas, Deniz Alparslan and Zoey Seymour.
 
After Caroline Peper broke the seal for the Violets and Yasmene Clark added a jumper, NYU was back within two before back-to-back buckets from Seymour regained a six-point margin. Peyton Jones assisted on both Seymour layups inside, as the 'Jackets led 10-4.
 
Seymour added another score and doubled her season total in points in just the first quarter alone. After Hazell Nickerson and Franki Gomez chipped in buckets late, UR led 16-9 after ten minutes had elapsed.
 
The Violets got things going early in the second quarter, scoring the first eight points to race in front by a point before Alparslan stopped the run with a layup in the paint. That ignited an 8-3 spurt with regained a four-point lead for the Yellowjackets.
 
NYU's Zahra Alexander then scored seven straight points herself, coming in a 10-0 Violets surge, that lasted a little over a minute of game time and saw the score move to 30-24 in favor of the visitors.
 
Over the final two minutes of the half, Alparslan and Gomez combined on five straight points to pull the 'Jackets back within one.
 
But one final NYU possession in the second featured a whopping five offensive rebounds for the Violets, and was capped with Peper draining a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to pull NYU in front by four at the break, up 33-29.
 
The momentum gained by Peper's triple before intermission seemed to carry over into the third. NYU scored the opening 15 points of the second half, with the defense stultifying the Yellowjackets offense as well, holding UR without a field goal for over six minutes.
 
NYU's slim four-point lead at halftime extended out to 19 points after Peper hit another triple midway through the quarter.
 
Macy Bacon hit the first UR basket of the second half, but Peper answered with another trey at the other end and NYU was off and running the rest of the way. Overall in the third quarter, NYU outscored URochester 21-5 in what proved to be the deciding quarter.
 
In the fourth, Olivia Lagao and Brooke Batchelor opened with back-to-back trey's and allowed the Violets to cruise the rest of the way.
 
Alparslan finished as URochester's leading scorer with 15 points, matching a career-high. She was 7-for-10 shooting in the contest and added a team-high three steals. Seymour ended with 11 points in her best game of the season. Grace Corelli chipped in five points and six rebounds while Annelise Dexter added five points.
 
Peper posted a game-high 21 points for NYU, draining five 3-pointers in the win. Batchelor and Alexander each had 13 points for the Violets, while Yasmene Clark had an unusual stat line with 2 points, 19 rebounds (14 offensive) and 5 assists.
 
The Yellowjackets are back in action in two days, hosting Brandeis University at noon on Sunday, with Senior Day ceremonies taking place prior to the game, which is the final home contest of the season.