From NYU Athletics
New York University's women's basketball team is back in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and seventh time ever as the Violets downed Trine University, 66-49, on Friday evening at the Beck Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
NYU scored 44 second-half points, nearly matching Trine's total for the game, to take control of the contest after leading by just four at the break. Natalie Bruns continued her stellar play, finishing with game highs of 16 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Her single-season program record blocks total is now up to 79 as she's on the verge of having the first 80-block season in NYU history.
"We talk all the time about playing 40 minutes and obviously at this time of year no one wants to go home," said head coach Meg Barber. "I thought Trine came out and played unbelievably hard, we knew we were going to get their best shot. Really, really well coached team. It took a lot of prep for our team to get ready for this one...I was just really happy to see us share the ball, utilize a multitude of our strengths and pull out the win."
Both offenses struggled to begin the game as the score was tied 2-2 after three-and-a-half minutes of play. Neither side shot higher than 38 percent in the opening quarter, but six points and six boards from Bruns in the first helped NYU to a 13-9 lead after one.
Points were even harder to come by in the second as the teams tied 9-9 in the frame and were both held to sub-30-percent shooting from the floor. But, with the Violets leading 19-18 late in the quarter, Belle Pellecchia converted an and-one at 1:57 for the last bucket of the half which gave NYU a 22-18 edge.
As Barber's team has done many times over the past two seasons, NYU hit its stride in the third quarter with a 10-4 run over the first 4:05, capped off by a Jenny Walker finish at the rim to go up by double-digits (32-22) for the first time all night. The Violets shot 7-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep in the period as Bruns posted eight third-quarter points and Mary Kate Fahey drained a pair of treys to give NYU a 43-29 lead entering the fourth.
New York ballooned its lead to 21 points (61-40) after Erica Miller hit from downtown with 4:39 remaining while six different Violets scored in the final frame as they picked up their 25th win of the season.
"Definitely having another year of experience under my belt helped a lot, especially because my freshman year was the Covid year," Bruns said on what she attributes her improvement this year to. "We've been big in the weight room...but also just knowing my teammates, knowing my coaches another year has just been a huge help in figuring out each other."
Pellecchia finished with 15 points, nine boards, two assists and a steal while Walker added 10 points (5-of-9 FG) and nine rebounds. Fahey totaled nine points as the highest-scoring Violet off the bench.
"I'm looking forward to experiencing this with my teammates," Miller said when asked about playing in the Elite Eight tomorrow. "I love every single one of them and I'm excited to share the ball and get a win."
Postgame Press Conference: