February 17, 2006

Maroons Notch First-Ever Win at NYU

NEW YORK -- Freshman Alex Leach (Gurnee, Ill./ Warren) came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points to lead the University of Chicago women's basketball team to a 61-56 win over 20th-ranked New York University in University Athletic Association play Friday night at the Coles Sports Center.

The win marked Chicago's first victory at NYU in 19 games since the series began in 1987-88.

Chicago (17-6 overall, 6-6 UAA) built a 26-22 lead at halftime. Each team led by as many as five points in the first 20 minutes.

NYU (18-5, 7-5) led for the last time, 35-34, when Sarah Frazier sunk a pair of foul shots with 12:32 left in the contest.

Senior Taryn Holgash's (Eaton, Pa./ Easton) three-pointer at the 11:56 mark sparked a 10-2 Chicago run as the Maroons went ahead to stay.

NYU closed to within three points, 51-48, when Jessica McIntee converted a three-point play with 2:57 to go.

Chicago answered with baskets by senior Susie Gutowski (Northampton, Mass./ Northampton) and sophomore Nofi Mojidi (Silver Spring, Md./ Bullis School) to increase the Maroons' edge to 55-48 with 1:57 remaining. Mojidi finished the game with 16 points.

The Maroons shot just 51.9% from the foul line (14-for-27) on the evening, but were successful on eight of 10 tries during the game's final 3:22.

Chicago held the host Violets to 28.6% shooting from the field.

Stephanie Ryba was the only NYU player to reach double figures as she finished with 13 points. Karen Bachman and Sara Rabinovitch collected 16 and 14 rebounds, respectively.

Senior Jenn Kaiser (San Diego, Calif./ LaJolla) grabbed 11 rebounds for Chicago.

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