How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
A 19-6 run over the first eight minutes of the second half propelled the NYU women's basketball team to a 70-58 win over Case Western Reserve University last Sunday afternoon at Coles Sports Center.
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Along with a convincing 78-62 win Friday night against Carnegie Mellon University, NYU has now won back-to-back UAA games and finished their four game homestand with a 3-1 record, improving their overall conference mark to 3-4.
"Whenever you win, it builds some confidence," head coach Stefano Trompeo said. "Having two straight weekends at home was great."
The game against Case, however, was anything but easy. NYU suffered through a rough first half, trailing 30-24 at the break. The Violets turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 12 Spartan points, and frequently sent Case to the foul line where they shot 12-14.
The second half was a complete turnaround. After Case converted a quick layup to open the second half and extend their lead to eight, NYU responded with an 11-3 run to tie the game, before taking the lead for good a few minutes later.
The Violets' tough defense limited Case to just six points in the first eight minutes of the period and forced five turnovers.
Junior Chelsea Blake recorded three steals and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
"Even when our offense isn't great, we get stops and [our defense] gets everyone fired up," she said.
With the Violets clinging to a five-point lead and just over three minutes to play, senior Jen Hum-Traverso converted a three point play after she was fouled on a jumpshot, which made sure they stayed in control.
Hum-Traverso led the team in scoring with 15 points. Fellow senior Hailey Kimball was the only other Violet in double-figures with ten points. Against Carnegie Mellon on Friday, Hum-Traverso and Kimball shot a combined 10-13.
"We wanted to spot up and shoot, and we are going to have to bring that mindset every night," said Hum-Traverso, who tied her career high of 16 points on Friday.
Next weekend, the Violets will look to sweep the season series from both Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve as they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Tartans on Friday, and then go to Cleveland on Sunday to take on the Spartans.
