The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team was defeated 78-54 by the University of Rochester in the third place contest of the Wendy's College Classic on Saturday.

Playing at the University of Rochester's Palestra, fourth-seeded Fisher (5-2) was unable to overcome a slow offensive start, resulting in a fourth place finish in the tournament.

The Cardinals found themselves in a 14-3 hole with 4:41 left in the first quarter before going on Erin Hulbert hit a layup for Fisher that sparked a 7-1 run ultimately capped off by a Mary Kate Cusack 3-pointer. The run last until the end of the quarter and saw the Cardinals trailing 15-10 heading into the second frame.

Early in the second quarter, Fisher built on its momentum as Caroline Robertson and Alyssa Robens each hit layups to cut the Yellowjackets' lead down to 15-14 with 9:23 left before the half. Rochester responded by scoring eight consecutive points and 21 of the last 31 points in the quarter to take a 36-24 lead at intermission.

An Emily Piacentini layup with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter would make it a 40-32 game in favor of the Yellowjackets but the eight-point difference would prove to be as close as the Cardinals would come in the second half. Fisher was outscored 21-12 in the fourth quarter and eventually suffered the 24-point defeat.

Cusack had a strong performance for the Cardinals, tallying a team-high 20 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Piacentini finished with nine points in the contest while McKenzie Bezon had seven points to go along with four rebounds.

Claire Walsh tallied a team-high eight rebounds in addition to scoring four points.

Fisher will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 11 as they play host to SUNY Fredonia in non-conference action.