The NYU women's basketball team was riding into the Division III NCAA Tournament's Final Four round on a high from the regular season. The Violets were two-time defending champions and went into their game against Scranton on a 91-game win streak, but that record came crashing down with a 60-52 loss on Thursday.
NYU held the second-longest win streak in NCAA history, sitting only behind UConn's 111-game mark. The team had also just set the record for the longest win streak in DIII history, breaking the tie with rival Washington University of St. Louis with its 82nd victory on February 8.
“Thrilled we beat Wash U for that record,” head coach Meg Barber said at the time after beating Carnegie Mellon 69-58. “I'm a competitive person and wildly respect this league, and to have any type of streak is incredible.” Barber went on to call setting the record “a sigh of relief.”
“Hopefully this quiets the outside noise, lets us get back to our main goals [of winning another national championship],” she added. “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. 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.”
The last time the Violets loss was on March 11, 2023, at the hands of Transylvania in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. NYU's lone senior, Caroline Peper, was the only member of the current team to suffer that sole defeat over three years ago. Now that their goal of taking home another March Madness title is over, the Violets will look forward to restarting their winning ways next season.
