The New York University women's basketball team suffered just its second home loss of the season, 76-64, to University Athletic Association (UAA) rival University of Chicago on Friday night, February 19, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
"We expect to win every game. I never expect to lose," said NYU Head Coach
Lauren Hall-Gregory. "I know there are going to be ebbs and flows. There are going to be moments when we have to fight through adversity, but this just wasn't the result I expected."
The Violets (17-6, 6-6 UAA) started off the game slowly and fell behind 6-0 to the Maroons (14-9, 6-6 UAA). NYU bounced back quickly, though, and closed out the quarter on a 15-5 run.
Kaitlyn Read scored 11 of the Violets' 15 points.
Chicago controlled the second quarter and went into halftime with the one-point 33-32 lead. The Violets did not lie down, though, and after making the last two baskets of the first half on
Drew Cabral's three-pointer with 32 seconds left and
Megan Dawe's layup at the buzzer, they continued a nice offensive run to start the third quarter. All told, NYU enjoyed an 11-0 run between the end of the second and beginning of the third periods to take a 38-33 lead.
The Maroons bounced back immediately and countered with an 8-0 run of their own to take a three-point lead at 41-38 with 3:08 remaining in the third. Chicago led the Violets 49-45 at the end of the quarter.
NYU did not lead in the fourth as the Maroons outscored the Violets 27-19 in the final quarter en route to the 12-point victory. The loss was NYU's fifth straight.
"We didn't defend well enough to win," continued Hall-Gregory. "There are some really good offensive teams in the UAA, and unfortunately we weren't ready to defend them for 40 minutes."
Prior to tipoff, Read was honored for becoming the 15th member of NYU's 1,000-career points club. Needing exactly 18 points, the 5-foot-10, University Park, TX, native scored just that against Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, on Sunday, February 7.
HIGHLIGHTS: - Read led all players with 25 points and also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
- Dawe was the game's second-leading scorer with 21 points. The senior center also finished with five rebounds.
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Riley Wurtz finished with a game-high seven assists.
- Elizabeth Nye (13 points, game-high 10 rebounds) and Rachel West (20 points) led the Maroons.
"We have a really good group. They are strong, confident, they want to win," said Hall-Gregory. "I know they'll come back tomorrow ready to work."
The Violets return to the court for the final home contest of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, February 21, at Coles. NYU, ranked #22 by both
D3hoops.com and
USA Today, will host #9/8 Washington University-St. Louis for a scheduled 2:00 pm tipoff.
