Women's Hoops Overcomes 20-Point Deficit to Conquer Carnegie Mellon, 59-49
02/15/08
From staring at a 20-point deficit to start the second half, the New York University women's basketball did a stunning about-face and delivered one of the most impressive comebacks in its storied history.
On the strength of its stout defense and several clutch performances, the Violets stormed back and used a game-closing 17-0 spurt to cap a thrilling 59-49 victory over University Athletic Association (UAA) rival Carnegie Mellon University before a raucous crowd of 1,602 on Friday night at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.
And with that, the Violets (14-7, 3-7 UAA) snapped a six-game losing skid while relying on virtually everyone in 21st-year head coach Janice Quinn's rotation.
"We're very happy we're not stuck on win #13, that wasn't a very lucky number for us," Quinn said. "We're building our fundamentals. We got a lot of production from people off our bench: B (Bianca Storts), Chelsea Blake, CC (Chelsea Seabron), and Emily Foshag."
All four of those players are in their first year of wearing an NYU uniform, yet looked awfully comfortable in helping the Violets flip the script after the Tartans shot 58.3% (14-for-24) from the floor, including a blistering 63.6% (7-for-11) from beyond the arc, in taking a 38-20 halftime lead.
To put that in perspective, Carnegie Mellon matched its entire scoring output from a 50-38 loss to NYU on Jan. 20 in Pittsburgh.
After the Tartans made it 40-20 just 20 seconds into the second half, sophomore forward Grace Carmen (12 points, 6 rebounds) hit a short jumper to make it 40-22 with 19:18 remaining. Quinn called a 30-second timeout right after the make, and the Violets emerged from the respite with a renewed sense of focus. They scored 18 of the next 19 points to pull within 41-40 after a Blake (8 points) bucket with 9:38 remaining.
After being stifled without a field goal for a stretch of 10:23, and without a point for 9:07, the Tartans used an 8-2 burst to take a 49-42 lead after a Corey Innes (10 points) three-ball with 7:03 remaining, forcing Quinn to burn a full timeout.
Once again, NYU rallied, holding the Tartans pointless the rest of the way. Although Foshag's baseline jumper with 3:27 gave the Violets the lead for good at 50-49, Storts ended up playing a starring role down the stretch. The rookie from Poughkeepsie, NY, produced nine points during the closing run, including NYU's final seven, and finished with 11 tallies and four steals.
In the second half, the Violets outscored the Tartans 39-11, shooting 56.3% (18-for-32) while keeping their Association foe to just 19.0% (4-for-21).
Over the final minutes, NYU received several strong efforts from the likes of Seabron (6 points, 4 rebounds), who made two of the Violets' 14 steals in the final two minutes.
Lost in the shadows of this stirring comeback, at least statistically, was the performance of NYU junior forward and reigning UAA Player of the Year Jessica McEntee. Sure, the 5-11 captain recorded her 14th double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but she also contributed four assists, two blocks and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.
"I thought it was a great team effort, and a courageous effort by Jessica McEntee," Quinn said. "Jess only had 13 points, but she gave us 11 rebounds, four assists, and just emotionally led the team."
Stacie Aleski led four players in double digits with 16 points for Carnegie Mellon. Rachelle Roll (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), Leah Feola (10 points, 9 rebounds) and Innes also reached double figures.
NYU returns to action Sunday, Feb. 17, when it hosts the University of Rochester in its final regular-season home game of the 2007-08 season at 2 p.m.