News Release

CLEVELAND — Senior Stephanie Ryba scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half as New York University staved off a strong second-half charge by upstart Case Western Reserve University en route to recording a 68-65 victory in University Athletic Association action Friday night at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

Ranked #4 in the ESPN/USA Today Division III Coaches’ Poll and #7 by D3hoops.com, NYU (21-2, 10-2 UAA) kept trading the lead back and forth with the Spartans (9-14, 2-10 UAA) before sophomore guard Gena Brown hit a pull-up jumper to give the Violets the lead for good at 50-49 with 6:35 remaining. Brown scored 13 of her career- and season-high tying 16 points in the second half.

However, Case Western remained scrappy from the opening tap until the final horn, never letting NYU take control for more than a brief stretch. Junior Lavonne Sherald canned four three-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points to help the Spartans hang around; Case Western went 9-18 from beyond the arc.

Case Western led for a good chunk of the second half, going ahead 47-44 after junior Ashley Horton hit a pair of free throws with 10:06 remaining.

NYU snapped out of its shooting slump to go on a 6-0 spurt to take a 54-49 advantage with 4:54 left. Brown put the Violets ahead to stay with her pull-up jumper at the 6:35 mark, while Ryba converted a pair of lay-ups off feeds from freshman Jen Hum-Traverso.

But, Case Western scored six of the next seven points to get within 56-55. The Spartans had a chance to at least pull even with 3:21 remaining after Ryba committed her fourth foul.

However, freshman Kristyn Atkins missed the front end of a one-and-one. On their next trip down the court, junior Chelsea Trout nailed a triple from the wing to make it 59-55.

And still, the Spartans never faded from the Violets’ view. Senior Dana Dempsey drilled a trey with 10.9 seconds left to get Case within 65-63. In the waning moments, the Spartans pulled within two points twice in the waning moments.

Fortunately for the Violets, they had the all-time leading free-throw shooter in program history stepping to the charity stripe. In addition to recording her 14th double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds, sophomore Jessica McEntee went 3-4 at the line in the final 9.9 seconds to help NYU ice the contest.

McEntee broke the school all-time record for free throws made in a season by going 9-13 at the foul line. She has now hit 143, breaking the mark of 134 previously set by Jocelyn Katsock in 1990-91.

Freshman Ashleigh Tondo tallied 12 points for the Spartans, while Dempsey and sophomore Colleen Martin scored 11 apiece.

NYU shot 41.5% (22-53) from the floor for the game, including 66.7% (20-30) from the foul line. Conversely, Case Western was 38.3% (23-60) on its field goal attempts, including 50.0% (9-18) on its long-range shots, but hit just 58.8% (10-17) of its charity-stripe tries.

NYU returns to action Sunday, Feb. 18, when it travels to Atlanta to face Emory University. Tip-off time is 2 pm. The Violets lead the all-time series 29-7, including a 75-57 victory on Jan. 19 thanks to a 20-point, 18-rebound performance by McEntee. Senior Adrienne Rochetti tallied 17 points, while Brown netted 15 in the victory.