From NYU Athletics
New York University's Natalie Bruns adds to her long list of postseason accolades with All-America recognition from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) while Belle Pellecchia was named an All-America honorable mention and head coach Meg Barber was a National Coach of the Year finalist.
"I'm so incredibly proud to see Natalie Bruns honored as a WBCA Coaches All-America," Barber said. "She has had an unbelievable year both on the court and in the classroom. She proudly represents New York University on a national level and has had tremendous success through her grace and determination on the court. Natalie simply changed the outcomes of games when she was on the court, and I feel very fortunate to coach her."
Bruns' historic season has led the numerous awards so far, including University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Year, First Team All-UAA, D3hoops.com Region 4 Most Outstanding Player, D3hoops.com First Team Region 4, Academic All-America and UAA All-Academic.
She impacted all facets of the game, averaging 15.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.9 blocks and 1.8 steals per game. Bruns set the program's single-season record with 80 blocks, also posting a single-game program record 10 blocks as part of a triple-double against Carnegie Mellon University on January 27. The junior led the UAA in blocks while ranking eighth in the nation, finished second in the league in double-doubles (10), second in rebounding, third in field-goal percentage (50.4) and eighth in scoring. Bruns scored a career-high 29 points with 15 rebounds, four blocks and two steals against Greensboro in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"This is the second year in a row NYU has had an All-America representative on our team," Barber added as Jenny Walker was selected last year. "It shows the consistency of our program's success and says a lot about the respect coaches around the country have for NYU women's basketball and the amazing teams and players in the UAA."
Pellecchia adds All-America Honorable Mention to her UAA Defensive Player of the Year award, Second Team All-UAA and First Team Region 4 honors this season. As a sophomore, Pellecchia 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 while scoring in double figures 22 times and had at least one steal in 28 of her 29 appearances, including three games with five steals. The New Jersey native had a career-high-tying 24 points against Haverford on November 13 and dished out a career-high nine assists on three occasions.
"For Belle to be recognized as just a sophomore speaks volumes to her impact on our program," Barber said. "We asked so much of her this season and put her in a new and necessary role for our team to be able to compete for championships. She responded as everyone would expect - she just outworked everyone. She led us to a top 10 national finish through hard work, maturity and a willingness to evolve her game."
Barber, who won the WBCA National Coach of the Year award last year, continued her success at the helm of NYU women's basketball in 2022-23, leading the program to its second straight outright UAA title, third straight 20-win season and to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
She holds an 88-21 record after four seasons of competition as head coach after a 25-3 campaign in 2022-23. The 25 wins tied for the fifth most in a season in program history while the Violets' 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.