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ROCHESTER, N.Y. –  Third-seeded Rochester led wire-to-wire against sixth-seeded Nazareth Tuesday night, downing the Golden Flyers 57-43 in the first round of the 50^th Annual Wendy's College Classic held at Kidera Gymnasium.

Nazareth falls to 4-1 on the season, while Rochester remains unbeaten at 5-0.

It was a slow start for Nazareth, as they shot just 20 percent (2-for-12) in the opening quarter and trailed 12-5.

Samantha Peebles hit Nazareth's first 3-pointer of the game with 1:48 left in the second quarter to cut the Rochester lead to 19-13.  On the very next possession, Peebles drilled another bucket from 3-point land to cut the deficit to 20-16.

Nazareth shot 22.7 percent (5-for-22) in the opening half, while Rochester managed just 28.1 percent (9-for-32).  The Yellowjackets led 23-16 at the break.

In the third quarter, Rochester used a 10-2 run over a 3:22 span to open up its largest lead of the game at 38-21.

Nazareth, however, was able to cut into lead and bring it to single digits early in the fourth quarter as a Lindsey Kelly layup made it 40-31. 

After back-and-forth action, Nazareth trimmed the lead to 48-41 following 1-of-2 free throws from Peebles with 3:36 to play, but that is as close as they would come.

The Golden Flyers finished the game 15-55 (27.3 percent) and Rochester ended 20-58 (34.5).

Kelly dropped 12 points (4-for-11) to go along with seven rebounds.  Classmate Sam Sorge was the only other Nazareth player in double figures, scoring 11 points on 5-for-11 and also added five boards.

Veronica Peck added nine points and three assists. Peebles notched a career-high seven steals, while pouring in seven points.

Nazareth will take on No. 7 RIT on Thursday at Roberts Wesleyan College with tipoff set for 6 p.m.  No. 2 Geneseo defeated RIT 58-56 on Tuesday night.