#19/#22 Women's Hoops Holds Off SUNY Oswego, 71-65, in Opener

Carmen, Foshag, Kilmurray Produce Starring Efforts for Violets

Grace Carmen led NYU with 16 points and eight rebounds.

In an opening game featuring several quick momentum swings, the nationally ranked women's basketball team New York University weather SUNY Oswego's storm down the stretch en route to earning a 71-65 victory Sunday afternoon at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

Ranked #19 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 and #22 in the USA Today ESPN Division III Coaches' Poll, the Violets got 16 points and eight rebounds from Grace Carmen, 14 points and a career-high tying seven boards from Emily Foshag and Chrissy Kilmurray's third career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds).

The Violets found themselves trailing 56-55 after a putback by Kayla Ryan, who led four Lakers in double digits with 15 points and 11 rebounds, with 6:42 remaining, but righted themselves with a strong defensive stand and a 12-1 surge that featured four points from back-up point guard Cara Bonito to claim a 67-56 lead with 2:42 remaining.

This was yet another example of how the teams traded dominant runs across 40 minutes. Just before Oswego took its last lead, NYU had spun off a 12-2 run that began with a Jen Hum-Traverso trey and ended with six straight tallies by Carmen, giving the Violets a 53-48 lead with 10:43 remaining as the Lakers burned a full timeout.

Of course, this came after Oswego scored 18 of the previous 25 points, including six from Traci Bacon (11 points), to claim a 46-41 cushion with 13:09 remaining.

Before that, the Violets trailed 18-12 at the outset before imposing its will. Improved defense, solid inside play and eight points from Foshag enabled NYU to reel off a 22-10 run en route to a 34-28 halftime lead.

Prior to intermission, Foshag contributed a game-high 11 points along with six rebounds to lead all players. NYU owned a 29-21 edge at the break and made 12 of its 16 free-throw attempts to offset its 33.3% shooting (10-for-30), while the Lakers shot just 32.4% (11-for-34) and went just 2-for-8 from the charity stripe.

The Violets also got steady, yet strong contributions in the first half from Kilmurray (7 points, 6 boards) and Hailey Kimball (7 points, 5 rebounds) during the early going.

Rachel Kohrs finished with 13 points for Oswego, while Colleen McCready added 11 points, four boards and four assists.

NYU will tip off again Monday evening at 7 p.m. against perennial rival Mount St. Mary College at the Coles Sports Center.