Box Score GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to the University of Rochester 77-67. Senior guard Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points to go with six assists and four steals for the Herons.

First-year guard Carol Bernal-Silva (Mountain Lakes/Boonton Township, N.J.) paced four Yellowjackets in double digits with 15 points. Junior forward Julie Marriott (Fairport/Fairport, N.Y.) and junior guard Helen Baroody (Cazenovia/Cazenovia, N.Y.) contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively, while junior forward Alex Porter (Walter Johnson/Rockville, Md.) posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 boards.

Sophomore forward Erin Cunningham (Morris Knolls/Rockaway, N.J.) joined Vespa in double figures with 10 points, while senior forward Stephanie Czajkowski (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse, N.Y.) collected a team-high 11 rebounds and a game-high five steals.

The contest was decided by rebounds and turnovers. Rochester (4-1) outrebounded William Smith 49-39, outscoring the Herons 16-6 in second chance points. The Yellowjackets turned William Smith’s 20 turnovers into 26 points, while the Herons (3-1) managed just 14 points off 17 Rochester turnovers.

The Yellowjackets erased a four-point deficit with a 14-2 run midway through the first half to seize control of the game. Three different Rochester players hit three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor during the surge, as the Yellowjackets went into halftime with a 41-33 lead.

A 14-3 second half run expanded Rochester’s advantage to a game-high 21, 64-43, with 10:49 remaining. It was still a 21-point game a minute later when Vespa willed her team back into the contest. She scored the game’s next six points and a total of 10 in a 14-0 Heron run to make it a seven-point game with 3:37 left. First-year guard Mollie Danahy (Troy/Troy, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining to make it a five-point game, but Rochester scored the contest’s final five points at the foul line to secure the victory.

William Smith is back in action on Dec. 17, when the Herons square off with George Fox in the first round of the Posada Royale Tournament in Thousand Oaks, Calif.