GENESEO, N.Y. - The SUNY Geneseo women's basketball team saw their incredible postseason run come to an end on Friday evening, falling to the defending national champion and top-ranked NYU, 74-53. The Knights gave the Violets one of their toughest tests of the season, only trailing 31-29 at halftime, but couldn't pull out the upset victory to keep their championship hopes alive. Geneseo finishes the season with a record of 24-7, and reached the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Knights made a statement to open the game, leading the Violets 8-7 halfway through the quarter, powered by four points from Mackenzie Reigle. NYU answered back later in the quarter with a big three to go ahead by five at 17-12, but as the quarter came to a close, Reigle knocked down a big three to help keep the deficit at just three points going to the second quarter.
• Geneseo went on to put an impressive performance in the second quarter, holding the Violets to just 11 points, and winning the quarter by one point. Early in the quarter, Maggie McGrane knocked down a big three to give Geneseo a 25-24 lead, then Grace Galgano made a tough layup in the paint to keep the lead at one point at 27-26. Both defenses played strong down the stretch, and a pair of free throws gave NYU a two point lead going to halftime.
• Galgano quickly tied the game at 31-31 with a driving layup, but NYU came out hot and quickly jumped ahead by nine points. The Knights continued to battle, but entered the fourth quarter with a tall task ahead, trailing by 11 points.
• Kristin Suydam knocked down an early three to cut the deficit down to eight points, but the Violets offense continued to stay hot, shooting 50 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from behind the arc in the second half to pull away for the 74-53 win.

QUICK FACTS:

• Reigle dropped a game-high 22 points on 9-16 shooting from the field, while McGrane joined her in double digits with 11 on 5-10 shooting.
• Galgano chipped in nine points and six rebounds, while Eva Elliot totaled a team-high eight rebounds.
• Geneseo gave the Violets one of their toughest tests of the season, a team that posts an NCAA best scoring margin of 38.7 points per game and has not lost a game since March 2023.
• Assistant Coach Shawn Monahan coached his final game on the bench for the Knights after 18 seasons, recording 377 wins during his career.

PRESS CONFERENCES:
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