GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -  The No. 4 seeded Cornerstone Women's Basketball team outscored No. 5 Rochester 46-27 in the second half, limiting the Warriors to just nine points in the final 10 minutes to claim a 78-73 victory in the WHAC Tournament Quarterfinals. The win lifts CU to 16-12 on the season as they will travel to Fort Wayne on Friday to face the top seeded Warriors of Indiana Tech at 6pm.
 
 
Game Highlights – Cornerstone - 78 Rochester - 73
 

• First Quarter
  • CU opened with a quick layup from Mackenzie Stien just four seconds into the contest and it was a sign of things to come with 41 points combined put up in the opening 10 minutes
  • The Warriors took their first lead after a putback and triple off a second offensive rebound
  • The lead grew to seven for RU after a steal and layup forcing CU into an early timeout
  • The margin grew to as many as nine for the visitors in the quarter and despite a late layup from Gracie Gortmaker, the lead stayed at nine (25-16)

 

• Second Quarter
  • After exchaning buckets for the first five minutes of the second, a Jaylee Long triple brought CU to within six (31-25)
  • That would be as close as the Golden Eagles would get in the opening half however as Rochester continued to flex its muscles on the offensive glass
  • RU scored 46 first half points after putting up just 69 total in the team's matchup five days earlier

 

• Third Quarter
  • CU started to slowly chip away at the lead as Ainsworth scored the first six points for the Golden Eagles
  • The lead was dwindled down to just five after a Megan Bennett layup off a sweet pass from Gortmaker but RU responded with four straight to up the lead back to eight
  • A personal 5-0 run from Olivia Kubik ignited the Mol Arena crowd as the margin was trimmed to just three at 55-52.
  • But again Rochester responded with a layup and triple to go back up by eight
  • The seesaw battle continued with CU trimming it to four, but a last second layup from Rochester put the visitors up 64-58 at the end of three

 

• Fourth Quarter
  • CU started the final frame on a 6-0 run and after a Stephanie Ainsworth layup, the score was knotted at 64, forcing RU into a timeout with 7:55 to play 
  • A Mackenzie Stien 3-point play with 5:30 to play gave CU their first lead (71-69) since it was 4-2 in the first quarter
  • Free throws continued to help CU take control as Stien and Jaylee Long hit 2/4 to extend the Golden Eagle lead to 74-71
  • The lead grew to five (77-72) after a stop and pair of FT's from Jacie Long and then Gracie Gortmaker came up huge with a steal and a FT with 23.9 remaining 
  • The two teams traded splits at the foul line in the final 20 seconds for the final outcome ot 78-73

 
 
By the Numbers

• 22/11 - Stephanie Ainsworth posted a double-double in points and rebounds
• 3/16 - Cornerstone held Rochester to a dismal 18.8% shooting in the 4^th quarter
• 9/6/4/4 - Mackenzie Stein stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds and four assists and steals
• 16 - CU erased a 16-point lead with just over one minute remaining in the first half

 
What's Next?

• Cornerstone will head to the top seed and regular season WHAC Champion, Indiana Tech, on Friday for a 6pm tip in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Warriors beat CU by 10 in their last meeting in late January.

 
Women's Basketball Contact: Jonny Strube
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