Janean Cuffee (New York, NY/The Lawrenceville School) and Katie Foos (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) each scored a game-high 24 points as the New York University women's basketball team concluded its non-conference season with a 77-56 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Sunday, January 5, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.

NYU is now 10-1 this season, while the Engineers dropped to 7-3.

The teams exchanged leads several times early in the game. Cuffee's three-pointer broke an 11-11 tie and Annie Barrett's (Cambridge, MA/Buckingham Browne & Nichols) free throw gave NYU a 15-11 lead after the first quarter.

The Violets extended their advantage to as many as 12 points in the second quarter, 36-24, on Foos' second consecutive three-ball with 1:10 remaining.

NYU went on to lead 36-26 at halftime. Foos had 14 points at the break, while Cuffee added 11. 

After Foos put the Violets up by 15 on a layup midway through the third quarter, RPI went on an 8-0 run to cut its deficit to seven, 51-44. Cuffee's three-pointer followed as the Violets ended the quarter on a 10-1 streak, culminated by Cuffee's layup with seconds remaining to give NYU a 61-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The NYU lead ballooned to 23 points on a pair of occasions late in the fourth quarter before the Violets settled for the 21-point victory.

Foos' season-high point total included a 66.6% mark (6-of-9) from three-point range. She also contributed six rebounds and a steal.

"Katie had a great scoring game, but what was most impressive was her rebounding and her defense," said Head Coach Meg Barber. "She really stepped up. It's really a bonus when she's shooting the three like that." 

Brooklyn Shelton (Botetourt, VA/Lord Botetourt) also scored in double-digits for NYU, finishing with 10 points. She connected on all four of her free throws and is now a perfect 33-of-33 from the charity stripe this season.

Barrett finished with game highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. 

"From the tip to the end of the game I just thought we worked really hard and saw our chemistry come back from where it was before the school break," Barber added. "Being 10-1 in non-conference is definitely a boost from where we were last year. With the gauntlet of play we face in the UAA, it was important to play some tough teams and RPI is a really good team." 

The Violets return to the court when they begin University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Saturday, January 11. NYU hosts Brandeis University at 1:00pm.