This was the toughest one yet!

Trailing in the second half for the first time this season, the #1-ranked New York University women's basketball team gutted out a 67-55 win at #17 University of Chicago in a University Athletic Association (UAA) match-up on Sunday, January 25, in the Windy City.  

The 78th-straight win for the Violets did not come easy.

NYU never led in the first quarter.

The Violets trailed 38-37 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The scored was tied 48-48 with less than seven minutes left in the game.

But, a 9-0 NYU run over the next three minutes finally allowed the Violets to exhale.

"We're always taking it possession by possession. We're trying to win every possession," said Head Coach Meg Barber. "No one is thinking 'hey we might not win.' We just had to stack up a couple of stops and put together a couple of solid offensive possessions."

Credit Zahra Alexander for spearheading the Violet victory. The sophomore guard scored 19 of her career-high 24 points in the second half, including the first four of the 9-0 streak. Her consecutive layups gave NYU a 52-48 lead. Eden Williamson followed with a three-pointer and Caroline Peper concluded the stretch with a basket at 3:24. 

The Violets never led by less than six the rest of the way.

"Zahra was unbelievable in the second half, and Eden's three-pointer finally gave us some breathing room," Barber explained. "Then, it was just execution down the stretch."

The 12-point win was NYU's closest margin of victory this season.
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Brooke Batchelor made a huge contribution with a near-double-double of 11 points and nine rebounds to go with three assists, three steals and a block.

Aila Kaibara added 11 points, while Yasmene Clark grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.   

After only shooting 35.4 percent (17-of-48) from the field over the first three quarters, NYU made 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) in the fourth.  
 
Now only three games off the NCAA Division III record of 81-consecutive wins, the Violet return home to host Case Western Reserve University on Friday, January 30. The UAA contest is set to tip-off at 7:30pm at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.