Another historic season for New York University's women's basketball team came to a close on Saturday night in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament with a 79-63 loss to sectional host Transylvania University at the Beck Center in Lexington, KY.

The Violets made the Elite Eight for the second straight year and seventh time ever after winning their second consecutive outright University Athletic Association (UAA) title and producing their third straight 20-win season. NYU swept the UAA's year-end player awards as Natalie Bruns was the Player of the Year, Belle Pellecchia earned her second straight Defensive Player of the Year award and Caroline Peper received Rookie of the Year.

Head coach Meg Barber's team finished 25-3 on the year which tied for the fifth most wins in a season in program history. The 2022-23 Violets' 206 three-pointers made were the third-most in a season for the program while their 812 made field goals and 44.5 field-goal percentage were both the fourth-highest ever. Barber now holds an 88-21 record in four played seasons at the helm.

Tonight against the undefeated Pioneers, NYU jumped out to a 12-6 lead after Jenny Walker's jumper with 4:29 left in the first. Transylvania closed the gap and later took an 18-17 edge on a pair of Dasia Thornton free throws with 54 seconds on the clock as that score held after one.

The hosts gained momentum in the second, outscoring NYU 21-9 in the period, as the Violets shot 4-of-17 in the frame while Transylvania converted 7-of-11 field goals. This led to a 39-26 halftime advantage that could have been larger if not for Peper's trey with 20 seconds left.

NYU fell behind by as many as 20 points in the third but an 8-2 run late, including two more Peper triples, brought the Violets within 10 (57-47) at the one minute mark as they entered the fourth down 58-47.

Peper drained yet another shot from downtown 11 seconds into the fourth to bring NYU back within single digits, 58-50, but Transylvania answered with a 10-2 spurt as the Violets never came closer than 12 the rest of the way.

The Pioneers went 25-of-34 at the stripe while NYU converted four of its six attempts all game, only taking two free throws for the entirety of the second half. TU also out-rebounded the Violets 41-29 with 12 offensive boards. 

Peper, a rookie, stepped up on the big stage with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep. Senior Erica Miller added 12 points on 4-of-7 long-range shooting while Bruns finished with 10 points, five boards, three assists and a block.

Bruns ended the year with a single-season program record 80 blocks while also posting a single-game program record 10 blocks earlier in the year as part of a triple-double.

Pellecchia contributed nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block on the night.

Seniors Miller, Walker, Brooklyn Shelton, Annie Carlile and Zoe Makler will graduate as Barber's first recruiting class with all five playing integral roles in building the program to where it is today. 

Bruns, Pellecchia, Peper and the Violets' six other underclassmen will return next year and continue to build upon the extremely successful foundation laid over the past three seasons, hungry to make an even deeper Tournament run after reaching the Elite Eight two years in a row.

Postgame Press Conference: