ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A large run late in the third quarter helped guide the No. 15 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 66-53 win over the University of Rochester on Sunday afternoon at the Louis Alexander Palestra.

Junior Lexy Harris finished with 18 points and six rebounds to lead WashU while junior Sidney Rogers and senior Jordan Rich also reached double figures with 14 points and 10 points, respectively.

Harris scored quickly to start the first quarter before the Yellowjackets responded with their own jumper and a three-pointer to put themselves ahead 5-2 at 8:44. Just over a minute later, WashU regained the lead on a three-pointer from Rich at 7:29.

The Bears' lead grew to seven before the first quarter media timeout, 16-9, and up to 10 with 2:54 left on the clock, 22-12. Both teams then hit a small scoring snag before a three-pointer at the buzzer by junior Catherine Goodwin put the Bears ahead by 11, 25-14.

By the midway point of the second quarter, Rochester saw that they were trailing by 15 on a layup from Goodwin. A couple of scoring runs by the Yellowjackets brought the WashU lead back to single digits on a pair of free throws at 2:53, 33-25, and after a three-pointer from junior Alyssa Hughes, UofR went on a 9-0 run to trail by just two with 20 seconds left before the half.

Once again, a last-second basket by WashU saw the Bears take a 38-34 lead at halftime.

The Yellowjackets continued to chip away at the WashU lead before retaking it themselves at 6:44 on a three-pointer from Claire Groenewoud, 42-41. However, that is when UofR went ice cold for the rest of the period.

The Bears started a 10-0 run with a jumper from sophomore Ava Blagojevich at 6:14 and capped it with a three-pointer from Rogers at 3:19. A long tip-in at 2:46 by Hazell Nickerson for the Yellowjackets was answered with a pair of free throws by junior Sydney Starks at 1:02, as the Bears led 53-44 going into the fourth quarter.

After a layup from Harris at 9:22 and a basket and a pair of free throws at 7:52 by UofR, both teams could not find a way to score until the Yellowjackets made a layup at 2:46 to pull within five, the closest they would get the rest of the way.

Forced to foul late, UofR slowly saw the Bears' lead continue to grow as WashU went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the last 1:07 of the contest to pull away and have their biggest lead at the end, 66-53.

The Bears gave up only seven points off of 14 turnovers while making the most of the 15 Yellowjacket turnovers with 20 points.

WashU is back home inside the Field House next weekend when it welcomes Carnegie Mellon on Friday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Case Western Reserve on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m.

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