And the veterans shall lead the way...
New York University's four-year duo of senior
Belle Pellecchia and grad student
Natalie Bruns was outstanding from the get-go, scoring 18 of the Violets' 22 first-quarter points and making sure the season would not end prematurely.
The duo finished the game with 22 and 19 points, respectively, as the Violets' moved one win way away from a second straight National Championship with a 74-55 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stout in an NCAA Division III Final Four match-up on Thursday, March 20, in Salem, VA.
The 19-point winning margin is tied for the smallest in any of NYU's 30 victories this season.
The defense was on all night, forcing 15 turnovers and scoring 24 points off them. Wisconsin-Stout shot 0-of-10 from three-point range.
"We really needed to bring our toughness tonight for 40 minutes," said Head Coach
Meg Barber. "We needed our defense to show up in a really big way. Our players are willing defenders who really buy into defensive pressure."
The Violets fell behind 4-0, but scored the next seven points. They never trailed again in recording their 61st-consecutive victory, tied for the eight-longest in NCAA women's collegiate basketball history at any level.
NYU led 22-13 after the first quarter and went up 41-20 at halftime following
Caroline Peper's buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Bruns finished with 15 points at the break, Pellecchia had 14 and Peper added 10.
"Just having a bit of a size advantage, we wanted to take advantage of that especially in the first half," Bruns said. "All of the credit to my teammates for finding me. We have five players on the court who can score at any time. But, today they found me with a height advantage and they get credit for that."
The lead increased to a game-high 25 points, 51-26, on Pellecchia's bucket at 5:08 and NYU went on to lead 55-36 after three quarters.
The Blue Devils pulled within 17 on several occasions in the final quarter, but never got closer as the Violets punched their ticket to the finals.
Pellecchia added game-highs of seven assists and four steals. Bruns totaled eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and two steals.
"Our team defense leads to our offense, and I think that's what happened tonight," Pellecchia said.
Peper added 17 points and five rebounds.
Brooke Batchelor grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
For the first time in NCAA Division III history, there will be a rematch in the National Championship Game as NYU will face Smith College, who the Violets defeated 51-41 in last year's final. The 2025 Championship Final takes place on Saturday at 4:00pm.
