#19/22 Women's Basketball Overpowers Case Western Reserve, 74-56

Kilmurray, Brown Enjoy Big Games as Violets Place Four in Double Digits

Gena Brown helped NYU's bench outscore the opposition's 31-6.

Christine Kilmurray scored eight of her 11 points to spark a 17-0 second-half spurt, powering the nationally ranked New York University to a 74-56 victory over Case Western Reserve University in a University Athletic Association (UAA) women's basketball contest Friday night before 1,387 at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.

Ranked #19 in the USA Today ESPN Division III Coaches' Poll and #22 by D3Hoops.com, the Violets (19-4, 8-4 UAA) found themselves down 40-39 with 16:01 remaining, but used their fast break and their size advantage to create quick scoring opportunities to finally put away the Spartans (10-13, 3-9 UAA).

"When our defense plays the way it can, that opens up what we're capable of doing, which is our transition game using our athleticism to get easy baskets," NYU interim head coach Stefano Trompeo said.

NYU opened with a 26-12 run thanks to the play of Gena Brown, who scored eight of her season-high 12 points during the opening outburst as the Violets lockdown defense and got their running game going while keeping Case Western Reserve pointless for 5:28. However, the Spartans enjoyed a reversal of fortune as Jessica McEntee (19 points, 8-for-12 FG) and Grace Carmen (8 points, 6 boards, 3 assists) got into foul trouble, reeling off 20 of the next 29 points to trail just 35-32 heading into halftime.

In the second half, though, the Violets never allowed Case Western Reserve to mount a significant rally after a big run; NYU's lead never shrunk below 10 points the rest of the way.

Emily Foshag, who finished with 12 points, hit the last of her four three-pointers to start NYU's 17-0 surge. From there, the Violets kept feeding Kilmurray down low, which proved fruitful as she scored from close range four times. McEntee added four tallies during the run of prosperity, and also added a nifty fast-break assist on a Carmen bucket.

"When Chrissy's determined to get position and our guards get the ball inside, she's tough to stop," Trompeo said.

All told, NYU assisted on a season-high 23 of its 29 field goals, a staggering 79.3% rate. Foshag, Jen Hum-Traverso and Chelsea Blake each handed out four helpers, as 10 of the 11 Violets who played recorded at least one assist.

NYU shot 46.0% (29-for-63), including 36.4% (8-for-22) from three-point range, while hitting 72.7% (8-for-11) of its free-throw attempts. The Violets owned a 44-32 rebounding edge, which translated into a 38-22 advantage on points in the paint.

Erin Hollinger led Case Western Reserve with 19 points and six boards, while Caitlin Henry had 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks. The Spartans shot 37.5% (21-for-56), including 23.5% (4-for-17) from downtown, and hit just 10 of their 20 tries from the charity stripe.

NYU resumes action Sunday, Feb. 20, when it hosts UAA adversary Emory University at 1 p.m. at the Coles Sports Center.