The New York University women's basketball team has now gone where no Violet team has gone before.
NYU's 82-67 win over Case Western Reserve University on Friday, February 9, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan, represented their program-record 21st-consecutive victory.
In addition, senior
Natalie Bruns' jumper with 4:36 left in the game raised her career total to 1,000, becoming the 18th Violet in team history to reach that scoring plateau.
It wasn't an easy evening for the
undefeated and top-ranked Violets (21-0, 10-0), who were tested early by the Spartans (8-13, 1-9) before rallying in the fourth quarter to pull off the historic achievement.
"To reflect on the last 21 games, well, in retrospect it's quite an accomplishment," said Head Coach
Meg Barber. "I'm just so proud of everyone who puts on the uniform."
The Violets trailed 20-19 after the first quarter and fell behind by six, 42-36, late in the second.
But consecutive three-pointers from Bruns and
Erica Miller pulled NYU into a 42-42 tie at halftime.
Case Western Reserve shot 60.7 percent (17-of 28) from the field in the first half and a sizzling 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from three-point range.
The Violets again fell behind 53-48 early in the third quarter, but went on a 7-0 run capped by Bruns' layup to reclaim the lead.
After the Spartans tied the score,
Belle Pellecchia converted a layup and gave NYU a 57-55 lead at the end of the third quarter that they would never surrender.
A Case free throw brought the Spartans to within one, but a 10-0 NYU spree followed and gave the Violets some breathing room.
"We went right back to what we're know for...defense," Barber added. "We were resilient defensively. That's the name of the game for this group."
The NYU lead grew to a game-high 17 points, 80-63, on another Pellecchia layup with 2:18 remaining in the game, and the Violets went on to post another double-digit victory, which they have done in all but one of their victories this season.
Bruns finished with exactly the 16 points she needed to reach the 1,000-point mark. She also contributed game-highs of eight rebounds and five blocks.
"I knew where I was as far as the point total, but I just wanted to come out here and take care of what we needed to take care of," Bruns explained. "Whether it was scoring 20 points or scoring five points, whatever the team needed from me is what I was going to do today."
Pellecchia played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 23 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the field, while also contributing seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Caroline Peper was also a deadly sharpshooter on Friday, scoring a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of 9 from three-point range. She also had seven rebounds.
"The last couple of games I've been shooting pretty well, and I've been trying to play with that same type of energy every game," Peper said.
The Violets will look to extend their streak on Super Bowl Sunday when they face Carnegie Mellon University in another University Athletic Association (UAA) contest. Tip-off for NYU's final home game of the regular season is set for 2:00pm back at the Paulson Center.
