PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Rochester made up for an off-shooting night with strong offensive rebounding and claimed a 56-45 victory over Nazareth College in the quarterfinals of the Wendy's Classic at St. John Fisher.
The victory puts theYellowjackets into the semifinals against William Smith College. That game will be played Thursday at 6 pm at Roberts Wesleyan College. Nazareth will play Brockport in a consolation game at RIT at 6 pm Thursday.
Rochester's five-person post rotation of Jodie Luther, Amy Woods, Danielle McNabb, Madeline Korber, and Loren Wagner combined for 39 points and 25 rebounds – 18 of those off the offensive glass. McNabb had 13 points, including a three-pointer, in 14 minutes. Luther was the other double figure scorer for Rochester. She tallied 11 points (and hit a trey).
Korber had seven points and 10 rebounds (eight offensive). Woods had six points and eight boards (seven offensive). In all, the Yellowjackets scored 18 second chance points and had 28 points in the paint. Nazareth had 12 points in the paint and nine second chance points.
The score was tied at 15-15 before Korber made two free throws to ignite a 14-3 run over seven minutes that gave Rochester a 29-18 lead., McNabb and Korber scored four points each in the run. Woods, Luther, and Melissa Alwardt had two points each. It was 31-20 at halftime.
Luther's layup to start the second half gave Rochester a 13-point edge (33-20). Brittany Wilson of Nazareth scored nine points in the next 95 seconds, pulling the Golden Flyers within 37-31 with 15:28 to play. Rochester answered with a 7-0 run in four minutes – a free throw by Alwardt, McNabb's trey, a jumper from Kristyn Wright, and one free throw from Korber to boost the edge to 44-31 with less than 12 minutes to play.
Rochester won its 16th straight Wendy's Classic game and its 25th in the last 26. The Yellowjackets reached the semifinals for the 11th straight year. Rochester is 4-1 overall. Nazareth is 2-3.