CLEVELAND, OH – University of Rochester women’s basketball rallied back from being down by as many as 19, but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, 83-68 on Sunday afternoon inside Horsburgh Gymnasium.
Kate Montgomery got the Spartans going with a three-pointer to break the seal before Rylee Drahosanswered for the Yellowjackets to get Rochester on the scoreboard just over two minutes in. The first quarter would stay tight till around the six-minute mark, when CWRU went on an 11-0 run, nine of which came from Kayla Characklis, to take a 19-6 lead with 4:39 left in the first.
Hannah Lindemuth’s jumper and Callie McCulley’sfree throw stemmed the tide for a bit, but the Spartans kept things rolling with five more, all from Sarah Mitchell, and would lead 30-14 at the end of the first.
Case Western Reserve stretched its lead out to its largest of the afternoon, 19, with five of the first seven points of the second quarter, leading 35-16 with seven minutes until the halftime buzzer, but the ‘Jackets would start to find their rhythm.
After shooting just 30.8 percent in the opening quarter, Rochester shot 53.3 percent in both the second and third frames, using a 15-3 run over the four-plus minutes to cut CWRU’s lead down to just seven.
Haley Dumiak’s triple got Rochester’s offense revving at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter, while Hailey Bruneau’s three-pointer just over two minutes later pulled Rochester back within 10. Drahos added a jumper to make it an eight-point game, before Tia Poulakidas and McCulley added buckets to cut the Spartans’ lead down to seven, 38-31, with 2:54 left in the first half.
Lucy Vanderbeck answered with a three to put the Spartans up 10, but Lindemuth answered with her first triple on the other end to again cut the deficit back to single digits before Case Western Reserve scored the final three points of the second quarter to take a 44-34 lead into the locker room.
Rochester and Case Western Reserve traded buckets to start the third, with Lindemuth scoring her 999th and 1,000th-career points with a put-back layup at the 8:35 mark of the period.
CWRU’s lead remained at double digits till the 6:19 mark of the third, when Rochester went on another run, this time holding the Spartans scoreless over the next two-plus minutes while scoring seven straight to make it a seven-point game.
Lindemuth got the run going with a layup just shy of the six-minute mark, while Kat Jenks’ three-pointer, assisted by Bruneau, cut the deficit to seven, 56-49, with 4:06 left in the third.
And after CWRU answered to go back up by 10 on Vanderbeck’s three, Poulakidas scored five-straight points on her own, making it a 61-56 lead before three free throws made it a 64-56 Spartan lead at the quarter break.
Rochester would then score five of the first seven points of the final frame to again pull within five, 66-61 on Dumiak’s layup with 7:07 to play, but the Spartans answered with yet another run, outscoring the Yellowjackets 17-7 over the final seven minutes of the fourth to pull away with the victory.
After shooting 53.3 percent in the third, Rochester shot just 31.3 percent (5-for-16) in the fourth and turned it over four times over the final seven minutes.
Down 75-66, Lindemuth drained a three to pull the ‘Jackets within nine, but UR would score just one field goal the rest of the way, as the Spartans finished off the 83-68 victory.
UR drops to 10-14 (5-8 UAA) with the loss, while Case Western Reserve moves to 10-14 (3-10 UAA) with the win.
Lindemuth led Rochester with 22 points, giving the graduate student 1,009 points for her career, tied for the 13th-most in program history, while McCulley added a double-double, her second of the year, with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Rochester shot 42.4 percent for the contest, but just 26.1 percent from three-point range and 12-for-21 from the free-throw line, while CWRU shot 42.9 percent overall, 8-for-25 from three and 15-for-16 from the free-throw line.
The Yellowjackets will wrap up the 2023-24 season in Atlanta, GA on Friday, Feb. 23 with a matchup against the Emory University Eagles at 5:30 p.m.