Audrey Cunningham has served as an assistant coach with the New York University women’s basketball team since 2018-19. Her responsibilities include on-court development with the guards, spearheading recruiting organization, assisting with game preparation, enhancing team building, and leadership development.
In 2022-23, the Violets reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and won the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship for the second consecutive season. NYU opened the season with 11 straight wins and was ranked #1 in the nation by D3hoops.com and #2 by the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association).
After dropping two games, the Violets went on a 14-game winning streak before falling to host Transylvania University in the Elite Eight.
Nationally, the Violet finished fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.27) and blocks per game (6.5), ninth in scoring margin (21.5), 12th in field goal percentage (44.52) and turnovers per game (12.9), 13th in winning percentage (89.3), and 16th in both scoring (75.7) and three-point percentage (33.9).
Several players received numerous accolades. Natalie Bruns was named a WBCA All-American, D3hoops.com Region 4 Most Outstanding Player and First Team All-American, UAA Player of the Year, and First Team All-Met. Belle Pellechia was selected WBCA All-America Honorable Mention, UAA Defensive Player of the Year, D3hoops.com Region 4 First Team, and Second Team All-UAA and All-Met. Jenny Walker earned All-UAA and All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Second Team honors, while Caroline Peper was named both UAA and D3hoops.com Region 4 Rookie of the Year.
The Violets produced one of the great seasons in program history in 2021-22, going 25-2 overall, winning the UAA Championship with a near-perfect 13-1 record, and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. NYU ranked among the nation’s leaders with a .926 winning percentage (tied for 7th),44.8 field goal percentage (8th), 5.6 blocks per game (tied for 11th),74.8 free throw percentage (12th), 150 blocks (tied for 13th), +20.4 scoring margin (14th, 77.6-57.3), and 33.8 three-point percentage (18th).
For their efforts, Cunningham and the team’s coaches were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Individually, Walker was selected UAA and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Player of the Year while also earning D3hoops.com Fifth Team All-America honors and First Team All-Met accolades. Pellecchia was named D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year, UAA and ECAC Rookie of the Year, UAA Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-UAA, and Second Team All-Met. Both Bruns and Jordan Janowski were Second Team All-UAA selections
NYU did not compete in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019-20, Cunningham helped lead the Violets to a 21-6 overall record and a second-place, 10-4 finish in the UAA. NYU qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, defeating Emmanuel College in the first round before falling to host Bowdoin College in the second.
That squad broke several team records, including most three-pointers made (17) and attempted (41) in a game and in a season (275, 781), highest one-season free throw percentage (76.5) and three-point percentage (35.2). Individually, Annie Barrett set the Violets’ one-season (202) and career (435) assists records, while Brooklyn Shelton led NCAA Division III and set NYU’s one-season free throw percentage record (.992).
Numerous awards were achieved by the players, as Janean Cuffee was selected MBWA Division III Player of the Year, D3hoops.com First Team All-East Region, First Team All-UAA, All-ECAC First Team, and NYU’s Female Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year. Barrett received UAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team honors, as well as D3hoops.com Second Team All-East Region, All-ECAC Honorable Mention and Third Team All-Met accolades. Walker was also a Second Team All-UAA selection.
In her first season with the Violets, Cunningham helped lead the Violets to a 17-10 overall record, a 6-8 mark in the UAA and to the postseason ECAC Championship. The season culminated in an 82-74 victory over host Cabrini University in the ECAC Championship Game.
Several players flourished during Cunningham’s first season at NYU. Cuffee, who was selected the ECAC Championship Most Valuable Player, was a First Team All-Met and D3hoops.com Second Team All-East Region honoree. She was also named First Team All-UAA, while Katie Foos received Honorable Mention All-UAA.
Before arriving at NYU, Cunningham’s most recent coaching experience was as an assistant at Stony Brook University (2016-18). She oversaw all aspects of player development, crafted opponent scouting reports, aided in all recruiting efforts, and ran all the team-affiliated social media accounts. In her final season, the Seawolves posted an 18-12 overall record and reached the quarterfinal round of the American East Championship.
Prior to Stony Brook, Cunningham spent two seasons at the University of Maryland (2014-16). During her first season with the Terrapins she served as recruiting operations assistant before being promoted to the director of recruiting operations in April 2015. In that position, she led all aspects of the recruiting process, managing a database of over 500 recruits and assisting in all on-campus recruiting visits.
During her tenure in College Park, Cunningham was part of two Big Ten regular-season championships, two Big Ten Tournament Championships and a 2015 NCAA Final Four appearance.
A 2014 cum laude graduate of the University of New Haven with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication with a Sports Management minor, Cunningham was a four-year member of the basketball team. A Dean’s List student, she played in all 26 games as a freshman and averaged 6.8 ppg. As a senior, Cunningham played in all 28 games and averaged 4.9 ppg. She completed her career sixth on the program’s all-time list with 102 three-pointers.
A Germantown, MD, native, Cunningham resides in Manhattan.
