The New York University women's basketball team is Final Four bound.
The top-ranked and undefeated Violets (29-0) continued their March Madness march with a resounding 68-46-victory over the University of Scranton in their Elite Eight match-up on Saturday, March 9 at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.
NYU makes its return to the Final Four for the first time since 2007 and will be seeking its first NCAA Division III National Championship since 1997.
Jordan Janowski's layup with 20 second left in the game concluded the scoring and began the wild celebration.
"This means so much," said Head Coach
Meg Barber, whose teams lost in the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons. "I just want to thank the NYU Community, everyone who just grinded to make this such a great home environment for us. I know I'll remember this forever, and I know the players will, as well."
The Violets only trailed once in the game, 3-2, as the defense was suffocating in the first quarter, holding Scranton to 18.8 percent (3-of-16) shooting from the floor.
Belle Pellecchia was a beast over the opening 10 minutes, scoring nine points and amassing seven rebounds.
NYU began the second quarter on a 19-7 run and took a 34-16 lead on Pellecchia's layup with 2:53 remaining.
The Violets still led 38-24 at halftime after connecting on eight of their 10 field goal attempts and three of their four three-pointers in the second quarter.
"Some people feel like like they have a dynamic offensive team. Some people feel like that have a dynamic defensive team," Barber explained. "What makes our team elite is that we really are a dynamic offensive and defensive team, and because we have the culture of buying into the defensive side of the ball we just make it really difficult for teams to stay with us for 40 minutes."
NYU increased its lead to 20 points, 46-26, on a pair of
Morgan Morrison free throws with just over three minutes gone in the third quarter.
Pellecchia had picked up her fourth foul a minute earlier and sat the rest of the quarter, but NYU never led by less than 17 and ended the quarter ahead 53-34.
The Royals (28-3) pulled within 57-41, but the Violets ended all doubt by scoring the next nine points.
Scranton never got closer than 20 the rest of the way.
Pellecchia finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, as five Violets reached double figures.
Caroline Peper scored 13 points, Morrison and
Megan Bauman each had 11, and
Natalie Bruns finished with 10.
"NYU is not like any other school, we don't really have a campus," Bruns said. "We are young adults growing up in New York City and the experience is hard, but we all get through it together and that binds us even more."
Bauman completed her double-double with 10 assists.
"It's been unreal since the day I stepped foot in NYU," said Bauman, who is in her first year after graduating from Babson. "Now, making it to the Final Four, I haven't been here, but I feel like we've gotten over the hump."
NYU will now face another undefeated team Transylvania University (31-0) in the National Semifinal on Thursday in Columbus, OH. The two teams met in last year's Elite Eight, with Transylvania coming out victorious.
"We'll celebrate tonight," Bauman added, "and then look forward to next week."
