In front of a full house at St. Francis College, the New York University women's basketball team⁠—as its done all season⁠—erupted in the third quarter, leading to a 71-61 victory over Washington and Lee University in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.

Sharpshooting junior guard Erica Miller led the Violets' offense, scoring a career-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor. She even outscored the Generals herself, 9-8, in the third quarter alone.

Mary Kate Fahey set a new career standard in scoring as well, coming alive for 11 points off the bench with a lot of timely buckets.

First and second round host NYU raced out to a 9-0 lead in the opening quarter, capped off by four points from Belle Pellecchia. W&L jumped back into it with a 10-2 run, coming within one at the 3:37 mark. The Violets ended the first leading 18-12, as both teams struggled from the field in the quarter and neither side scored for the final 1:47.

NYU held a 26-21 edge halfway through the second, but the Generals scored 10 straight points over the next minute-and-a-half to quickly swing the momentum. A big and-one from Natalie Bruns put the Violets back on top, 35-34, with 1:25 to go before the half and NYU maintained the one-point edge (39-38) at intermission.

The third quarter was all NYU; the Violets outscored W&L 22-8 in the period, featuring nine points from Miller, and held the Generals to 22.2 percent shooting in the frame and an 0-of-4 mark from deep. NYU hit 4-of-7 threes itself and forced six visitor turnovers, despite being outrebounded 14-10 by the Generals in the quarter. The Violets entered the fourth leading 61-46.

Head Coach Meg Barber extended her bench in the fourth, allowing the Generals to cut down their deficit, but NYU advanced with a 71-61 victory.

POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE:



BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN:

• Natalie Bruns notched a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double along with four blocks. She had 11 points and nine boards at halftime.
• Fahey shot 3-of-5 from three in what Barber described as the best game of her career. The guard added five rebounds with four coming on the offensive glass.
• Pellecchia finished with 10 points, four assists and four steals.
• Jordan Janowski recorded eight points, seven assists and three boards in the win.
• Jenny Walker controlled the paint defensively, swatting four shots, altering many more, and corralling six caroms.
• Brooklyn Shelton chipped in six points, seven rebounds and two steals.
• NYU won despite shooting 37 percent from the floor and 29 percent from three. The Violets held W&L to 35.7 percent field goal shooting and 21.1 percent from deep.
• NYU forced 17 turnovers, scored 18 bench points and 22 on the fastbreak.

NEXT UP:
Following Bates College's thrilling overtime victory over Roger Williams University in the first game of the night, NYU will take on the Bobcats tomorrow, March 4, at 5 pm in Brooklyn. Online tickets will go on sale at 9 am tomorrow (Tournament Homepage).