Led by a near triple-double from Riley Wurtz, the New York University women's basketball team defeated visiting Skidmore College 66-63 in the first game of the NYU Holiday Classic on Saturday, December 29, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
 
In memory of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, NYU observed a moment of silence before the game, and coaches for both teams wore green ribbons on the sidelines. Wurtz, a native of Sandy Hook, CT, poured in a career-high 20 points and added nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Violets (6-3) to victory in their first game in three weeks.

Highlights
 
- In a back-and-forth contest that featured four ties and six lead changes, NYU went up for good with 2:25 left. With the scored tied at 59-59, Wurtz drove and kicked to Melissa Peng in the corner. Peng drained a triple to put the Violets up three.
 
- The Thoroughbreds (2-6) twice pulled to within one in the final minute. The first time, Wurtz went 2-2 at the line with 50.6 seconds left to again make it a three-point margin.
 
- After Peng went 1-2 at the stripe with 19.2 ticks on the clock to put NYU back up two, Skidmore had a chance to tie or take the lead. But, Dani DeGregory's layup attempt was off target, and Cassidy Jourdan came down with the rebound.
 
- Jourdan then went 1-2 at the line with 0.4 seconds left to make it 66-63. The Thoroughbreds had one last chance, but Jourdan knocked away the inbounds pass and time expired.
 
- Nicole Lem joined Wurtz in double figures, netting 16 points (12 in the first half) and adding six rebounds and three steals. Jourdan scored nine points, while Rachel Crittenden had eight off the bench for an NYU team playing its first home game in nearly six weeks.
 
"We lost similar close games like this early in the season," said Head Coach Lauren Hall-Gregory. "Late in those games I could see fear in the players' eyes, but I didn't see that today. We've come a long way."
 
The Violets are back in action on Sunday, December 30, for the finale of the NYU Holiday Classic. The squad takes on William Smith College at 3:00 pm at Coles.