The Yellowjackets held Nazareth to 35% shooting for the game, blocked five shots, and produced 15 steals on 24 Nazareth turnovers. The Golden Flyers went without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the second half as UR built a 40-29 lead after holding a 34-29 edge at halftime.
Rochester moves into the semifinals of the tournament at 6:15 pm on Thursday at Roberts Wesleyan College. The top-seeded Yellowjackets will play either fourth-seeded RIT or fifth-seeded SUNY Geneseo. Rochester improved to 12-0 overall. The Yellowjackets are ranked third by D3hoops.com and fourth by the WBCA.
Nazareth will play in Thursday’s 1:30 pm consolation game at Roberts against the loser of RIT-Geneseo. The Golden Flyers are 4-7.
“They are better than their record indicates,” Rochester head coach Jim Scheible said of Nazareth. “We thought they would play well and they did, particularly Whitney Smith and Sarah Homer.”
Smith scored 11 points with two assists and one steal in 30 minutes. She was one of three Golden Flyers in double figures. Homer tied for game-scoring honors with 14 points. She also grabbed six rebounds. Nazareth’s third double figure scorer was Stephanie Bowens with 10 points.
Danielle Muller led a balanced Rochester offense with 14 points. Alex Porter scored nine points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and made three steals. Julie Marriott, Megan Krebbeks, and Emily Lyons each scored eight points. Lyons and Jessica Waddell blocked two shots apiece.
“We didn’t have enough good possessions at the start of the second half,” said Nazareth coach Diane Williams. “They beat us on the boards and we stopped doing the small things we did in the first half like closing down the baseline.”
It was tight throughout the first 20 minutes. UR pushed its lead to eight, 29-21 on Muller’s fast break layup with five minutes left in the half. Kelly Dunne and Jamie Malloy hit threes in the closing minutes to pull within 34-28 at halftime.
Layups by Marriott, Marlena Fisher, and Krebbeks pushed Rochester ahead 40-28 in the opening minutes. At the same time, Nazareth repeatedly turned the ball over or missed shots.
“Nazareth exposed us a bit in the first half,” Scheible said. “We wanted more intensity in the second half on defense. It’s our identity. It’s what we do.”