Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 5, 2016 – The No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team forced 26 turnovers, but came up short in a 56-51 setback at No. 13 University of Rochester Friday night in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.

WashU dropped to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in the UAA, while Rochester improved to 16-3 and 6-2. The Bears remained tied with Rochester and New York University at the top of the conference standings after the Violets lost at Carnegie Mellon University Friday. WashU travels to Atlanta to face Emory University at 2 p.m. (ET) Sunday. The Eagles earned a 71-64 victory over the University of Chicago in Friday's action.

After WashU battled to a 28-25 halftime lead, the second half was a tale of two quarters. WashU scored the first six points of the third quarter and a baseline jumper by senior Amanda Martinez made it 34-25 in favor of the Bears with 6:41 to play in the period. The Yellowjackets got back-to-back second-chance baskets to pull to within 36-31, but Martinez hit another baseline jumper and freshman Claudia Smith drained a three after a scramble to stretch the lead to 10. After a basket by Rochester, Smith and sophomore Natalie Orr made three free throws to give WashU a 44-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Yellowjackets erased the deficit with a 14-2 run to open the fourth quarter that gave them a 47-46 lead with 4:26 to play. After Rochester missed a pair of free throws, junior Lily Sarros drove left for a layup and senior Jordan Thompson tracked down a long rebound for a fastbreak layup to regain a 50-47 advantage for WashU with 2:59 remaining. After taking a timeout, Rochester tied the game with a three, then took the lead with a pair of free throws. Junior Zoe Vernon made a free throw to pull WashU to within 51-52 with 33 seconds left, but the Yellowjackets made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.

Rochester scored the first basket of the game, but WashU went on a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead with 7:10 left in the opening quarter. The Bears forced four turnovers by the Yellowjackets during that stretch, scoring eight of their 10 points off the turnovers, including back-to-back steals and layups by Martinez. Rochester pulled to within five, but a long jumper by junior Jenn Dynis and a baseline three-pointer by Vernon pushed WashU's lead to 19-9 with 3:27 to play in the first. The Yellowjackets scored their final four points of the quarter at the free-throw line as WashU took a 21-13 lead into the second quarter.

Both teams struggled offensively to start the second quarter before a pair of free throws and a three-pointer brought Rochester to within 21-18 with 5:54 to play. After a timeout by the Bears, Sarros and freshman Steph Botkin both hit jumpers to extend the lead to 25-18. The Yellowjackets scored seven of the last 10 points of the half, including 5-of-6 at the foul line, as WashU took a 28-25 lead into the break.

WashU finished with 31.3 percent (21-67) shooting from the field, compared with 33.3 percent (17-51) for the Yellowjackets. Rochester shot 45.8 percent (11-24) in the second half after being limited to six field goals in the first half. The Yellowjackets outrebounded WashU 54-27 and finished with a 19-6 advantage in second-chance points. WashU turned 26 Rochester turnovers into a 23-1 advantage in points off turnovers.

Martinez led the Bears with 12 points, a career-high eight steals and four rebounds. Smith added a career-high eight points off the bench, while Thompson also finished with eight points.

Bear Notebook: WashU is 43-16 all-time against Rochester … The teams have split the season series eight of the last nine seasons … It marked the seventh time in the last 10 meetings between the two teams that the game was decided by fewer than 10 points … Thompson had two assists to bring her career total to 400 … The Bears equaled their season-low with just eight turnovers.