Emory had a chance to tie the game, but committed a turnover just as the final horn sounded.
But the story here was McEntee’s performance for the Violets (22-2, 11-2 UAA), who remained atop the UAA standings. McEntee notched her 15th double-double of the season in the first half alone with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and grabbed 18 caroms in the game while going 11-18 from the floor and 13-16 at the charity stripe.
Historically speaking, McEntee’s 36 points tied for fourth all-time on the NYU single-game scoring charts with Patti McCrudden (11/24/87 vs. Manhattanville), Donna Layne (3/5/94 vs. Buffalo State) and Dari Magyar (1/8/02 vs. Stevens Tech). It was the second highest point total produced by a Violet in a UAA game, behind only the 37 that Marsha Harris poured in against Brandeis University on Feb. 15, 1998.
NYU is ranked #4 in the ESPN/USA Today Division III Coaches' Poll and #7 by D3Hoops.com
McEntee got NYU back into the ballgame after her team trailed 40-25 in the first half. From there, the Violets scored 15 straight points to end the stanza, including seven from the hands of McEntee. The last of them came on an old-fashioned three-point play just before the halftime horn as the teams headed into the locker room tied at 40-40.
Although NYU seemed to seize momentum, it never could get the Eagles out of their sights. In fact, the Violets led 65-60 after senior Karen Bachman converted a drive with 3:27 remaining, but the Eagles tied the contest at 67-67 after Beth Bergmann (team-high 20 points) buried all three of her free-throw attempts.
This set up the last of McEntee’s heroics.
McEntee got the ball on the low blocks, dribbled right, then left, and then right again before finding a narrow lane to the basket. With a couple of defenders in her face, the sophomore banked the ball cleanly off the basket and through the cylinder for the game’s final points.
Senior Stephanie Ryba was the only other Violet to reach double digits with 10 points, while sophomore Gena Brown tallied nine and senior Karen Bachman finished with eight and 11 boards.
For Emory, Erica Kaplan netted 15 points and nine rebounds, while Lora Turner contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
NYU shot just 37.9% (22-58) from the floor, but hit a season-best 88.5% (23-26) of its tries from the charity stripe and owned a 45-37 edge on the glass.
Emory shot just 34.8% (24-69), but hit 42.9% (9-21) of its three-point attempts and 83.3% (10-12) of its free throws.
NYU returns to action Saturday, Feb. 24, when it hosts Brandeis University in its regular-season finale at 2 pm. In the last meeting against Brandeis, McEntee finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in a 59-53 victory in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Prior to the game, the Violets will honor their three seniors: Bachman, Adrienne Rochetti and Ryba.