GENEVA, N.Y.—The 21st-ranked University of Rochester basketball team defeated William Smith College 76-53 in Bristol Gym tonight. The Yellowjackets shot 53 percent from the floor while holding the Herons to 38 percent shooting.
 
UR (3-0) had a clear height advantage and used it to earn a 36-29 advantage on the glass. Senior forward Alexandra Leslie produced game-highs with 24 points and five assists for the visitors. She also grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Senior forward Lauren Deming added 10 points and four assists.
 
The Herons (2-1) had three players in double figures. Senior guard Kendra Quinn-Moultrie had 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Junior guard Natalia Baum also had 11 points and a team-high three steals. First-year guard Stavriana Dimitrakopoulou netted a season-high 10 points.
 
In the first quarter, the Yellowjackets held a slim 9-8 lead, but finished the opening frame on a 9-1 run. Leslie started the surge with a jumper in the paint and James capped the quarter's scoring with a 3-pointer.
 
Rochester led by as many as 13 in the first half, taking a 36-23 lead on a pair of made free throws by Leslie. Baum made a free throw and Morrison made the final bucket of the half, to trim William Smith's deficit to 36-26 at the half.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 52 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while holding the Herons to 33 percent. Leslie led all scorers with 15 points at halftime. Dimitrakopoulou paced the Herons with 10 points.
 
Rochester broke the game wide open in the third quarter, outscoring William Smith 22-14. The Herons trailed by 17 three minutes into the quarter, but used an 8-0 run to briefly get the Yellowjacket lead back to single digits, but UR responded with an 11-2 run to carry a 58-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Baum recorded the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but six straight points for Rochester pushed the lead above 20 points where it stayed for the remainder of the game.
 
William Smith will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 28, when the Herons travel to St. John Fisher for a 6 p.m. tipoff.