From NYU Athletics
Natalie Bruns was named the D3hoops.com Women's Basketball Region 4 Most Outstanding Player as New York University swept the regional awards.
Meg Barber also received Region 4 Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season while Caroline Peper was named Rookie of the Year. Bruns and Belle Pellecchia landed on the Region 4 First Team.
Bruns adds these honors to her University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Year and First Team All-UAA accolades. Peper now has a Rookie of the Year double after winning the UAA's top rookie honor as well.
Pellecchia was a Second Team All-UAA selection and is on the D3hoops.com All-Region team for the second straight season.
Players chosen to the All-Region team are now eligible for All-America selection.
Bruns had one of the most successful campaigns in program history, setting the single-season program record with 80 blocks while averaging 15.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.9 blocks and 1.8 steals per game. She shot 50.4 percent from the field, 35.3 from deep and 70.5 at the stripe while ranking eighth in the nation and first in the UAA in blocks. The St. Louis native was second in the league in double-doubles (10), second in rebounding and third in field goal percentage.
The junior also set the single-game program record with 10 blocks against Carnegie Mellon on January 27 as part of a 16-point, 14-rebound triple double which tied the UAA's single-game blocks record as well. Bruns achieved a new career high in scoring in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Greensboro, notching 29 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
Pellecchia, who also recently won her second straight UAA Defensive Player of the Year award, averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game. She led the UAA in steals and ranked second in assists per game. Pellecchia scored in double figures 22 times and had at least one steal in 28 of her 29 appearances, including three games with five steals. She had a career-high-tying 24 points against Haverford on November 13 and dished out a career-high nine assists on three occasions.
Peper emerged as the season went on for the Violets, averaging 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 34.5 percent three-point shooting. She hit multiple long-range jumpers 14 times and scored in double figures in nine different outings. The rookie stepped up in the Tournament as well, scoring a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep in the Elite Eight against Transylvania on March 11. Peper also scored a career-high 19 points in a home win over Rochester on January 22.
Barber, who reached the Elite Eight with NYU twice as a player, has quickly brought NYU back to the national stage in her four full seasons at the helm, reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in both of the last two years. The 2022-23 Violets finished 25-3 on the year which tied for the fifth most wins in a season in program history while their 206 three-pointers made were the third-most in a season for the program and their 812 made field goals and 44.5 field-goal percentage were both the fourth-highest ever.
Barber's team won its second straight outright UAA title this year and reached 20-plus wins for the third consecutive campaign. She's made the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons and holds an 88-21 record in four years of competition.