Led by a season- and game-best 25 points from Megan Dawe, the New York University women's basketball team defeated Case Western Reserve University 69-52 on Friday night, February 13, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
 
"Megan was just ready to go, right from the start," said NYU Assistant Coach Cassandra Loftus. "She had a great week of practice. She just came out ready to play. Today was the day where things really erupted."
 
The Violets (19-2, 8-2 University Athletic Association), ranked #11 in the most recent USA Today Sports Division III Coaches Poll and #12 by D3hoops.com, and the Spartans (7-14, 1-9 UAA) went back and forth in the early part of the first half until the score was tied 9-9 with just four minutes gone in the contest.
 
NYU then went on a 16-3 run, followed a couple of minutes later by an 11-0 run. As they headed into the locker room, the Violets led 40-24 and outshot the Spartans 51.5 percent (17-of-33) to 29.6 percent (8-of-27). In addition, Dawe scored 15 of her 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half.
 
Dawe finished the contest 12-of-20 from the floor and added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. The junior forward led an NYU squad the outscored CWRU 46-20 in points in the paint and 25-11 in points off turnovers. The Violets also forced 21 turnovers, including 15 steals, while outrebounding the Spartans 41-32.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
 
- Kaitlyn Read had another strong all-around performance for NYU. The sophomore guard chipped in 12 points, six rebounds, two steals, and one assist in 25 minutes. She was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. As a team, the Violets shot 90.0 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe.
 
- Melissa Peng and Riley Wurtz led all players with game highs of six assists and three steals apiece. Peng chipped in seven points in a game-best 33 minutes, while Wurtz had five rebounds and four points in 21 minutes.
 
- Emily Rowe was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, finishing with eight points and a team-high-tying six rebounds.
 
- Overall, 11 players saw the court for NYU, with eight registering points.
 
"I thought it was an exciting game because we have such a deep bench and we have an opportunity depth-wise to play hard and get stops," continued Loftus. "Our press was really effective today and I thought that was a big factor."
 
The Violets will return to the court when they host Carnegie Mellon University on NYU Faculty Family Day at Coles on Sunday afternoon, February 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm and live stats and live video will be available.