SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 17, 2007 - Debbie Bruen scored 21 points and Lisa Tracy added 18 to lead the University of Mary Washington to a 74-63 victory over New York University in the 2007 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship Third-Place Game earlier today at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.

With the victory, Mary Washington finished the season with a school-record 31 victories, and concluded 31-3 overall. Although the Violets (27-4) saw their hopes for finishing third thwarted mere hours after seeing their National Championship dreams dashed in the National Semifinal, they still finished with the second most victories of any team in program history while reaching the Division III Final Four for just the third time ever.

Bruen, a senior, finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. She was named a WBCA All-American on Thursday night. She was 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Tracy scored 18 points, and had seven rebounds, and two assists. The only other double-figure scorer for the Eagles was Liz Hickey with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks.

For NYU, senior Stephanie Ryba scored 19 points in her final game wearing an NYU uniform, while fellow seniors Karen Bachman and Adrienne Rochetti each netted 10 points in their final appearances as a Violet.

Bachman also grabbed 10 rebounds to notch a double-double, while sophomore All-American Jessica McEntee tallied 12 points and 11 boards for her 20th double-double of the season.

NYU trailed by double digits for most of the second half, but nearly staged a fantastic finish, pulling within 67-63 on a three-pointer by Ryba with 1:19 remaining.

“I still felt like we had a lot of time left,” NYU head coach Janice Quinn said. “We had a lot of our three-point shooters on the floor.”

Mary Washington, however, responded by scoring the next seven points to secure third place in Division III. In the opening four minutes, NYU seized a 10-6 lead and appeared poised to earn the bronze medal of the Division III bracket thanks to their trademark sharp inside play and a penchant for getting to the charity stripe.

However, cold shooting and a pair of runs by the Eagles made the Violets fight just to keep their deficit out of double digits. A three-pointer by Rochetti interrupted a 10-1 burst by Mary Washington, pulling the Violets within 16-14. The Eagles then spun off 13 of the next 16 points, including seven from Bruen, to claim a 29-17 advantage.

By the time the Violets left the floor at halftime, they trailed 33-25 after shooting a season-low 24.2% (8-of-33) in the opening 20 minutes. For the game, NYU shot a season-worst 27.9% (19-of-68) from the field and was outrebounded 53-48.

published: 03/17/2007