The New York University women's basketball team opened its 2019-20 campaign with a 98-66 victory over St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn on Saturday, November 9, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.   

Five Violets scored in double figures, including three newcomers: Brooklyn Shelton (Botetourt, VA/Lord Botetourt) (21), Jenny Walker (Sausalito, CA/Redwood) (17) and Erica Miller (Alamo, CA/Carondelet) (11). The trio combined to shoot 19 of 28 (.678) from the field in their collegiate debuts.

Not to be outdone, returning Preseason All-American Janean Cuffee (New York, NY/The Lawrenceville School) scored 15 points and senior point guard Annie Barrett (Cambridge, MA/Buckingham Browne & Nichols) totaled 12 assists. 

"I think the guidance of our veterans on the court today and the scoring that some of our newcomers provided was great to see," said Head Coach Meg Barber. 

The Violets actually trailed 17-7 in the first quarter. But, a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Lauren Koyama (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto) (who finished with 15 points) sparked a 15-0 Violet run and NYU never trailed again.

The Bears closed within two points early in the second quarter, but the Violets out-scored their opponents 21-9 in the period and led 43-27 at halftime.

NYU never led by less than double-digits the rest of the way.

"We've been working very hard for several weeks and it was great to finally go out there against a real opponent and play a real game," Barber explained. "It's exciting to get the season started."

Meghan McLaughlin (Mount Laurel, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep) added eight points and had a team-high nine rebounds for NYU. 

Lauren Quesada led St. Joseph's with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Violets return to action this Tuesday, November 12, when they play at Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, NY. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm.