Every time the NYU women’s basketball team steps onto the court, it feels unmistakably New York — the confidence, the soundtrack, the sense that the stage belongs to it. Think Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” echoing in the background — the kind of swagger that suggests the Violets see themselves the way Frank Sinatra once sang about New Yorkers: King of the hill/top of the heap.
Now, the numbers back it up. With a 69-58 win over Carnegie Mellon on Sunday, NYU set a Division III women’s basketball record of 82 consecutive victories. The Violets broke the longstanding mark set by Washington University of St. Louis between 1998 and 2001, when the program reeled off 81 straight wins, and improved to 20-0 this season.
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“It’s been an interesting journey,” NYU head coach Meg Barber told The Athletic. “You know, on its surface, it really was just about winning a tough conference game on the road and just trying to go 1-0, but from an outside noise perspective, the team was obviously aware of the record and what that singular game would mean for this program, potentially being in the record books.
“We didn’t win a conference championship or national championship yesterday, and the streak was never the goal,” she added, “but I am really proud of the players, our staff, our support staff that have built this from the ground up and could enjoy that moment together.”
How dominant has NYU been during this nearly three-year undefeated streak? Since the team’s last loss in the Elite Eight of the 2023 Division III postseason tournament, only four teams have kept the Violets’ margin of victory to fewer than 10 points: Carnegie Mellon, which lost 58-57 a week before Sunday’s rematch; Case Western, which lost by 8 points Friday; and the University of Chicago and Whittier College, which lost by 6 and 8 points, respectively, during the 2023-24 season.
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With the DIII record in the books, the only benchmarks on the horizon for NYU belong to some of the most historic teams in college basketball — the UCLA Bruins, who hold the men’s record with 88 straight wins between 1971 and ’74, and the UConn women, who set the overall NCAA record with 111 consecutive victories between 2014 and ’17 and who previously won 90 straight from 2008 to ’10.
Barber, who played at NYU from 1998 to 2002, returned as coach in 2018 and built it into a juggernaut. “Before I even took the job, I called (associate head coach Nettie Respondek) and said, ‘Listen, I know one thing about this place, and it’s that we can win a national championship,’” Barber said in a January interview with The Athletic. “But I want to do it with people that I want to be around every day. And I want it to be a really fun, but competitive and uplifting experience.”
Every dynasty has an origin story, and for NYU, it started with a statement. During Barber’s first season as head coach, she pulled her players — most of whom she hadn’t recruited — and set the tone immediately. “I want every team in this league to hate us,” she said. “I want that target on our backs.”
That defiant attitude is part of the program’s identity. The Violets know they’re being chased, that their University Athletic Association conference foes circle “NYU” on their schedules and muster their best efforts to dethrone the back-to-back defending national champions.
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In Sunday’s record-setting win, the Violets needed every bit of that edge on the road against a Carnegie Mellon team that nearly beat them just a week before. NYU senior guard/forward Caroline Peper poured in 27 points to lead the team, including a 3 that narrowly beat the shot clock with a little more than two minutes remaining, which stretched NYU’s lead to 10 points and snuffed the Tartans’ hopes of mounting a late comeback.
Peper, the only player on NYU’s roster who was in uniform for the program’s last loss in 2023, has leaned into her leadership role this season. “As the only senior on the team, my goal this year has been to bridge the gap from last year to this year and moving forward,” Peper said to NYU Athletics. “I don’t take the NYU Sisterhood lightly, and I want to make sure that the bond is even stronger.”
As the Violets look to extend their streak and pursue a national championship three-peat, Barber continues to emphasize the game-by-game approach that has gotten NYU this far.
“We’re trying to stack together wins to get a conference championship in the UAA,” the coach said. “And down the road, if we’re fortunate enough, to compete for our third consecutive national championship.”
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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