Box Score

The New York University women's basketball team led Case Western Reserve University with under five minutes to play but ultimately lost 77-69 on Friday, February 11, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

 

The Violets (11-10, 5-5) broke the sixth and final tie of the game when Maggie Ely sank a pair of free throws. Kelly Loughney followed with a turnaround jumper in the paint, giving NYU a 67-63 lead with 4:57 remaining.

 

But Emily Mueller responded with a jumper for the Spartans (11-10, 5-5), and after a Violet miss Erica Iafelice drained her fifth three-pointer of the game to give Case a 68-67 lead with 3:56 left.

 

NYU made three successive stops on the defensive end but also could not come up with a bucket of its own. Erin Hollinger finally broke both sides' scoreless drought by hitting back-to-back shots to give the Spartans a five-point lead with just over a minute to play.

 

The Violets twice had chances to make it a one-possession game, but two free-throw attempts and a three-pointer at the top of the arc all missed the mark. Caitlin Henry then went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win for Case and pull it into a tie with NYU for fourth place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with four games to play.

 

After a back-and-forth first half that ended with the Spartans leading 33-31, the squad took its biggest lead of the game 6:46 into the second half on a Mueller layup, 50-42. With Case leading 60-54, the Violets scored seven unanswered points, the last three coming on one of Ely's four triples, to take a one-point lead. But after NYU eventually took its largest lead at 67-63, the Spartans scored 14 of the game's final 16 points to earn the victory.

 

Ely finished with a career-high-tying 25 points, recording her seventh 20-point game of the season. Bianca Storts had 13 points and eight rebounds, while Loughney added 10 points and seven boards. Chrissy Kilmurray led all players on the glass with 12 rebounds.

 

Hollinger led Case with 21 points. Iafelice totaled 17 points and five assists, while Evy Iacono recorded 10 points, nine assists (without a turnover) and six boards.

 

The Violets return to action on Sunday when they host Carnegie Mellon University at Coles. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 pm.