McEntee's Big Second Half Helps #14/16 Women's Hoops Humble Chicago, 72-54

Emily Foshag's point total matched her jersey number.

All-American Jessica McEntee recovered from a sluggish start, scoring 21 of her 23 points in the second half to power New York University's 72-54 victory over the University of Chicago in University Athletic Association (UAA) women's basketball action Sunday at the Ratner Athletics Center in Chicago.

McEntee also finished with eight rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Violets (17-3, 6-3 UAA), who weathered a big first-halfscoring run by Chicago (14-6, 5-4 UAA), salvaged a split of their weekend Midwestern swing. NYU is ranked #14 in the USA Today ESPN Division III Coaches' Poll and #16 by D3Hoops.com.

Emily Foshag added 13 points, featuring four three-pointers, as NYU went 12-for-25 (48.0%) from beyond the arc. Grace Carmen scored 10 points, including a trey, while Chelsea Blake contributed eight tallies and two three-balls off the bench.

Ahead 28-27 at the break, NYU's strong start in the second half came in large part due to McEntee getting untracked offensively. After scoring a season-half low two points during the opening 20 minutes, the 5-11 senior captain and two-time reigning UAA Player of the Year produced 15 points during a gamebreaking 18-4 outburst that made it 46-31 with 15:18 remaining.

McEntee scored seemingly every which way possible during the spurt: a pair of three-pointers, a pair of short shots, an old-fashioned three point-play, and four more free throws after drawing contact down low.

In the second half, McEntee went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe, taking all of her attempts in the final stanza as the Violets made 14 of their 20 free-throw attempts (70.0%).

NYU also started the first half with offensive fireworks: a pair of threes from Foshag's hot hand, five points by Blake and four more from Carmen allowed the Violets to open up a 21-10 lead 9:49 before intermission.

Chicago proceeded to stymie NYU's attack, holding the Violets scoreless for 7:46 while reeling off 15 consecutive tallies to claim a 25-21 advantage. A jumper by Megan Fox, a hook shot from McEntee and Foshag's third trifecta of the half enabled the Violets to reclaim the lead and take a 28-26 lead into the locker room.

Chelsea Seabron netted seven points, while Jen Hum-Traverso finished with six points and five assists for NYU, which shot 41.8% (23-for-55) and had assists on 19 of its field goals. The Violets also scored 23 points off 18 Chicago turnovers.

Molly Hackney and Alex Leach scored 12 points to lead the Maroons, who shot 38.6% (22-for-57), 11.1% (1-for-9) from three-point land and 52.9% (9-for-17) from the foul line. Chicago did own a 37-33 rebounding edge.

NYU resumes action Friday, Feb. 13, when it travels to UAA rival the University of Rochester for a 6 p.m. tilt.