Dasia Thornton and the rest of Transylvania had a hard time getting past New York Univeristy's defense in Thursday night's national semifinal. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com

By Gordon Mann
D3hoops.com

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Transylvania’s title defense came to an end thanks to the stellar defense of New York University, as the Violets shut down the Pioneers, 57-42, in the NCAA tournament national semifinals.

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New York University held Transylvania without a field goal for a 10-minute stretch and allowed just 16 field goals total, holding the Pioneers almost 30 points below their season scoring average. As a result, the Violets eliminated the team that ended their tournament run a season ago in the Elite 8.

“Transy having knocked us out last year on their home court was a pretty bitter defeat.” NYU head coach Meg Barber noted after the game. “We had a great team last year so, when we broke our huddle last year, we said we’re going to remember this team and play for this team.”

Thursdays’ game was played a couple hours from Transylvania’s campus in Lexington, Kentucky, and it started with the expected intensity of a matchup between the top two teams in the country with a combined record of 60-0. The first quarter was tightly contested and ended with New York University holding a 13-11 lead. Then, the Violets played lockdown defense in the second period and built a double-digit lead that held up the rest of the game.

Caroline Peper hit a three and Natalie Burns added a layup on consecutive possessions to take NYU’s lead to 23-13. Megan Bauman added two free throws, swelling the lead to 31-13, before Dasia Thornton hit a three pointer from the wing at the halftime buzzer.

That was the Pioneers’ only field goal, and NYU held Transylvania to 1 for 11 shooting and six turnovers in the period.

“The defensive style we play is wildly different from Transy’s [zone defense] style, and we really like to put a ton of pressure on teams and pick up tempo, and just wear teams out,” Barber said. “We always talk about how it’s not about the first quarter, it’s not about the third quarter, it’s about the second and the fourth.”

In the second half, Transylvania attacked the rim more successfully and had a chance to get the deficit to single digits entering the fourth quarter after Dasia Thornton’s layup pulled the Pioneers within 13 at 42-29 with 1:26 to play. But Transylvania missed two free throws and had a turnover on its next two possessions and then missed two more free throws at the start of the fourth.

NYU All-American forward Natalie Bruns rolled in a three from the top of the arc and then hit a jumper in the paint, pushing the NYU lead back to 18. Transylvania got as close as 10 points with less than two minutes to play but Caroline Peper and Megan Bauman went 8 for 8 from the foul line and sealed the win.

As has been the case throughout the Tournament, the Violets had a balanced attack and got big games from multiple All-Americans. Morgan Morrison finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and the Violets outscored the Pioneers by 26 when she was on the floor. Bruns finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and Caroline Peper dropped in 16 points for NYU (30-0).

“Transy’s a really good team and I thought it was a really competitive environment, and just to see all of our fans come all the way from New York to Columbus, on the bus ride here, I was really overwhelmed when we had our send off,” Bruns said after the game. “Just seeing the support from the community, it’s everything we could’ve hoped for.”

Thornton led Transylvania (31-1) with 18 points and seven rebounds, but the Violets held the rest of the Pioneers to seven points or less and had a 24-0 scoring advantage from their reserves.

“We were out of synch first half on offense and that created a pretty big hole that was hard to get out of,” Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks explained. “Kudos to NYU, they did a good job on defense. We thought, if we held them in the low 50s, we were going to have a chance, and we just didn’t hit enough shots.”

Transylvania’s season ends in the national semifinals and their winning streak ends at 64 games, the third longest in Division III women’s basketball history behind Washington U (81 games) and Amherst (68).

New York University advances to play Smith in Saturday’s national championship game. The Pioneers from Northampton, Massachusetts outlasted Wartburg, 61-54, in overtime. The championship game will be a reunion of sorts for Morrison who played four years at Smith and was the 2023 National Player of the Year last season, before transferring to NYU for graduate studies.

So, will Morrison have any extra adrenaline for that special showdown?

“Morgan Morrison is one of the most professional college athletes that I’ve ever coached,” Barber said when asked about the matchup. “She approaches everything the same way. She doesn’t get too high or too low.

I’m sure she knows a little bit about Smith. She’s played with a lot of those players, but they also look very different than they did when she was playing [there]. She will probably be studying more than most, and I know this game will mean a lot to her. The focus is going to be on NYU for us.”

Prior matchups between top ranked teams