Box Score
The New York University women's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 69-60 loss to Wesleyan University (CT) in the finale of the 2012 NYU New Year's Classic.
The Violets (7-3), who hosted the Classic on Monday and Tuesday, January 2-3, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan, struggled taking care of the ball and at the free-throw line against the Cardinals (7-2). NYU turned the ball over 21 times and went just 6-13 (46.2%) from the charity stripe against a team that entered the game ranked 16th in Division III in scoring defense.
“The reason we struggled today was that Wesleyan set the tone right from the start of the game with their physicality and energy,” said Violet head coach Stefano Trompeo. “We didn't match their intensity for the full 40 minutes, and their physicality caused a lot of those turnovers.”
Bianca Storts (18 points) and
Tana Bertino (17 points) paced NYU on offense en route to being named to the All-Classic Team. They were joined by Wesleyan's Jenna Klaes and Emily Lippe, as well as Oswego State University's Kayla Ryan.
Despite shooting 54.2% (13-24) from the field in the first half, the Violets entered the break trailing 32-29. The Cardinals then scored the first six points of the second period to build a nine-point advantage.
NYU responded with a run of its own minutes later, going on a 12-2 spurt to take its first lead, 43-42, since the opening minutes of the game.
But Wesleyan came right back with a decisive 12-0 run led by Sam LaCroce, who scored eight of the 12 points and gave the Cardinals a 54-43 lead on a layup with 9:30 to play. The Violets got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
“We just kept seeing Wesleyan outhustle and outmuscle us everywhere,” commented Trompeo. “We didn't contest shots well or rotate well. They shot 55% from the field, so that's a poor defensive job by us.”
Cara Bonito joined Storts and Bertino in double figures with 13 points. She added seven assists, while
Shelby Coon collected 11 rebounds.
LaCroce paced the Cardinals with 16 points, while Lippe tallied 15 points and seven boards. Klaes had 12 points, six assists and three steals.
NYU opens University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Saturday when it hosts rival Brandeis University at Coles. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
