(Photo by Rochester Athletics)
The BR-6 Rochester women's basketball team played their best game of the year by far on Sunday, a 73-54 win over BR-21 New York University. The matchup of two BR Top 25 squads was Rochester's eighth straight win.
The Yellowjackets are now 13-1 overall, 3-0 in the University Athletic Association, and all three UAA wins have come on the road over a span of nine calendar days. The loss was NYU’s first of the season.
This was NYU's final game at the Coles Sports Centre in Lower Manhattan before the building undergoes heavy renovation, which is estimated to take anywhere from five to seven years. The remainder of NYU's home games will be played at Bernard Baruch College in midtown Manhattan (Lexington Avenue and East 25th Street).
Sophomore forward Al Leslie led Rochester with a career high 30 points, hitting 12-of-19 from the floor, pulling down nine rebounds. Junior guard Sarah Kaminsky posted 10 points to go along with five assists (matching a career high) as the Yellowjackets got contributions throughout the lineup. Kaminsky's classmate Brynn Lauer had eight points from outside, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished four assists. Sophomore guard Lauren Deming had eight points and nine rebounds, while classmates Cassie McCambridge and Jillian Silvestri put up six points and two boards and five points with three assists, respectively.
Rochester produced its best shooting game of the year, converting 47.5 percent (28-59), while they held NYU to just 30.8 percent (20-65) on the other end. The Yellowjackets were 5-of-12 beyond the arc, while NYU hit just 3-of-19. Rochester held a 49-33 edge on the glass and scored 10 second chance points on 12 offensive rebounds.
Leading up to the NYU win, the Yellowjackets posted wins over BR-123 Brandies (63-40), and BR-55 Emory (75-68), to notch their sixth and seventh wins. In the win over Emory, they drained 11 treys on the night, with Kayla Kibling scoring 17, all in the second half on a 5-of-10 performance from beyond the arc. Kibling ranks second in the UAA in three-point percentage, converting 44.4 percent from downtown. Also putting up 17, Kaminsky sank 4-of-8 treys, while Leslie had her seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds on the day. Her success during the week earned Leslie the UAA Player of the Week honors.
The 11 3-pointers by the Yellowjackets are a season high and the 4th most in a single game in school history, with the last time Rochester made that many coming twice in the 2012-13 season. The 47.8% (11-23) percentage is also the 4th best in a single game for a Rochester squad, with at least 10 three's made.
Leslie is leading the Yellowjackets in scoring with 16.9 points per game, and ranks second in the UAA behind BR-16 Carnegie Mellon’s Lisa Murphy, who currently leads D3 in scoring. Her 9.7 rebounds per game also places her second in the conference.
Rochester is now tied for first place in the UAA with BR-5 Washington University, who recently defeated Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
The Yellowjackets have a tough road closing out the month. After hosting BR-148 Case-Western Reserve, and Carnegie Mellon, they close out January with a midwest trip to St. Louis to battle WashU before making the trip up Interstate 55 to battle BR-42 Chicago.
