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The Violets took on Centenary College on Monday and dominated the court, nearly doubling up the home team with a final tally of 73-39. With the victory, the team improved to 3-1, still going strong compared to their non-conference opponents. The game also marked the first victory on the road this season for the team.
NYU fell behind early in the first half by a score of 11-9 but went on a 22-2 run after to take a dominant lead into the locker room at halftime. Freshman forward Megan Dawe was the leading scorer for the Violets in the game with 17 points, going six for nine from the field and chipping in five rebounds.
“We’ve started off really strong and I think we have surprised a lot of people,” Dawe said. “We are a young team, yet we have been able to compete with every team so far. I’m really glad that I get to be a part of this new team, and I’m excited to see how far we can go.”
Dawe leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game thus far. The Violets also had clutch performances from freshman guards Riley Wurtz (13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals) and Cassidy Jourdan (nine points and three steals).
Rebounding was also key for the Violets as they crushed the boards. They picked up 48 rebounds to the Cyclones’ 35.
Sophomore guard Melissa Peng said teamwork was key to winning the game.
“We had a great team effort. Megan Dawe had a fantastic game inside the post, and Nicole [Lem], Cassidy and Riley shot the ball well,” she said. “Our active defense helped us gain momentum on offense.”
The Violets have an extremely young team. All but two players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores. Therefore, to compete, they must play as a mature and cohesive unit, which can be difficult to do with such a small amount of experience. As Peng said, the key for this team is building up the offense from their defense strategies. Thus far, the team has lived up to this challenge. If they can continue to do so, they will have success this season and into the future.
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Nov. 27 print edition. Chris Marcotrigiano is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].
