Hum-Traverso, Kimball Key Women's Basketball's Win Over Carnegie Mellon

Duo Each Scores 16 Points as Violets Cruise to 78-62 Triumph

Hailey Kimball scored a career-best 16 points and Jen Hum-Traverso tied her personal-high of 16 tallies, lifting New York University to a 78-62 victory over Carnegie Mellon University in a battle of University Athletic Association (UAA) women's basketball rivals Friday night at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

Hum-Traverso, who also scored 16 points in a victory over the Polytechnic Institute of NYU on Nov. 24, led four Violets (10-7, 2-4 UAA) in double digits and helped them make 10 of their 20 tries from beyond the three-point arc. For good measure, she also dished out a career-high-tying five assists.

Meanwhile, Kimball came off the bench and went 5-for-6 from the field, including two three-pointers, to surpass her previous scoring best of 13 points set twice earlier this season against Mount St. Mary College and St. Joseph's College of Patchogue.

Joining Hum-Traverso and Kimball in double figures were Chrissy Kilmurray (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Grace Carmen (10 tallies, 6 boards).

NYU entered the game ranked 15th in the nation in three-point field goals per game, and showed why after an early evening shooting malaise. After going more than four minutes without scoring, the Violets spun off 15 of the next 17 points as Hum-Traverso sank two treys and Kilmurray knocked down a three-ball to give the home team a 20-7 lead.

"We seemed more aggressive tonight," NYU head coach Stefano Trompeo said. "The first play we called was to try to get Jen a three. That just seemed to set a good tone for all 40 minutes."

During its run, the NYU defense matched its offense in terms of effectiveness and tenacity. Carnegie Mellon missed 16 of its first 19 shots, failing to crack double digits until Tori Baggio's lay-up 8:10 prior to intermission pulled the visitors within 22-11.

From there, the Violets utilized an 11-2 surge to seize its biggest lead, 33-13, with 4:36 left in the opening half. Kimball highlighted this burst, canning a three-pointer and swishing two free throws.

Carnegie Mellon pulled within 36-23 at intermission and, after trailing by as many as 17, got within 56-48 after a three-pointer by Ali Aunkst, who scored 13 of her game-high 18 points after halftime, with 8:37 remaining.

However, NYU responded with 12 unanswered points, including four from Kilmurray, to take a commanding 68-48 advantage with 6:04 to go.

Emily Peel finished with 14 points and Brit Phillips added 11 for the Tartans, who shot 39.7% (25-for-63) from the floor while going only 1-for-13 from long range. Carnegie Mellon owned a 38-36 rebounding edge.

NYU will cap its four-game homestand Sunday, Jan. 31, when it hosts Case Western Reserve University at 2 p.m.