NYU now stands alone atop the Division III women's basketball record book with 82 consecutive victories.
The Violets (20-0) beat Carnegie Mellon 69-58 on Sunday to break a tie with rival Washington University of St. Louis, which won 81 games in a row from 1998-2001.
“Thrilled we beat Wash U for that record,” NYU coach Meg Barber said in a phone interview after the victory. “I'm a competitive person and wildly respect this league and to have any type of streak is incredible.”
Barber knows first-hand about the record her team broke, having been a player at NYU when the team's rival was racking up victories.
“I would say a sigh of relief,” Barber said of setting the record. “Hopefully this quiets the outside noise, let’s us get back to our main goals (of winning another national championship).”
UConn holds the overall NCAA record for consecutive wins with a 111-game streak. The Huskies also have the second-longest streak, a 90-game run.
Caroline Peper scored 27 points to lead the way for two-time defending national champion NYU, which had to work hard for Sunday's win.
“For us, it was super important that it's NYU we’re representing to beat our rival's record,” Peper said.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half, and NYU led 32-29 at the break on a 3-pointer by Brooke Batchelor a few seconds before the end of the second quarter.
Peper and Batchelor hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the third quarter to start a 17-6 run to go up by double digits. The Tartans closed to within 56-51 midway through the fourth quarter, but Zahra Alexander, who scored all seven of her points in the final quarter, answered with consecutive layups to extend the cushion and make it 60-53 with 3:19 left.
Peper then hit a 3-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer with just over two minutes left to seal the win, exciting the NYU fans, including Barber's mother, who had made the trip to see history.
Sunday's game was a rematch from a week ago, when NYU topped Carnegie Mellon (12-7) by just one point. That had been the closest a team had come to defeating the Violets during this run. No team previously came within 12 points this season.
During the historic streak, only three other teams have come within single digits of the Violets: U Chicago lost by six, Whittier by eight and Case Western Reserve by eight.
Now with the record in hand, the Violets are focused on trying to win a fifth straight UAA Conference title and third consecutive national championship. Only Wash U has done that, when the school won four consecutive titles from 1998-2001.
“I think it hasn’t been the priority, but it’s something that we’re very excited to represent a DIII record in a really big way,” said Barber, who was drenched by her team with water in the locker room after the win. “We didn’t win a national championship today. We won a game and are focused on Friday on going 1-0 again. That has been the main priority the whole time.”
Peper is the only player on the roster to have lost a game in college at NYU. She was a freshman on the team that was beaten by eventual champion Transylvania in the Elite Eight of the 2023 Division III NCAA Tournament.
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