Women dominate CMU, earn NCAA bid

The women’s basketball team dominated Carnegie Mellon University, 65-39 in Pittsburgh on Friday. The Yellowjackets finished the regular season with an overall record of 21-4, including a 10-4 mark in the University Athletic Conference. Sophomore Jessie Graham and junior Kelly Wescott scored 13 points apiece for the Yellowjackets to lead the team in scoring. Twelve Yellowjackets scored against the Tartans.The Yellowjackets dominated from the start, building a 22-7 lead midway through the first half. CMU was never able to challenge UR’s dominance. Two days later, the Yellowjackets were extended a Pool C at-large invitation and a first-round bye in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Yellowjackets will play on Saturday at the Palestra against either Ithaca College or the SUNY Cortland. Saturday’s tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.This is UR’s second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and its fifth overall. The senior class of Tara Carrozza, Erika Smith, and Shannon Higgins has been involved in post-season play in each of their four seasons. They won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate New York playoffs as freshmen and sophomores. Last year, Rochester reached the NCAA Division III Final Four.The Yellowjackets are the only team in the tournament this year that played in the Final Four last season. Three University Athletic Association teams received NCAA bids. New York University and Washington University were also invited.If Rochester and NYU both win Saturday, they would meet for a third time this season. That site would have to be determined by the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Committee.Four Yellowjackets earned All-Association honors from the UAA. Smith and Wescott earned First-Team All-UAA plaudits. Carrozza and junior center Megan Fish earned Honorable Mention status. Smith earned her second straight First Team All-UAA honor and her fourth UAA accolade overall. She won Honorable Mention as a freshman and sophomore. Smith leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game. She is only the seventh Yellowjacket in history to score over 1,000 career points. Having scored 1,220 points, Smith is the fourth-leading scorer in Yellowjacket history. Tipton can be reached at rtipton@campustimes.org.