Middlebury traded runs with #4 New York University on Sunday inside the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center, but the host Violets utilized a 7-0 spurt to open the fourth quarter on their way to a 70-62 victory as a part of the NYU Holiday Classic. The Panthers (5-3) return home on Tuesday when they host Anna Maria at 6:00, while the fourth-ranked Violets remain unbeaten at 10-0 and will host Brandeis on Friday evening.

Middlebury scored the opening seven points of the contest on a layup and three-point field goal from Colleen Caveney, followed by a layup from Catherine Harrison. The Violets missed their first five attempts from the field before a layup from Megan Dawe put the hosts on the scoreboard with 6:46 left in the opening quarter.  

A little more than a minute later, Sarah Kaufman knocked down a three-pointer, giving the Panthers an eight-point edge at 10-2. NYU answered with a 12-0 run over a span of 2:25 with five points coming from Kaitlyn Read for a 14-10 advantage. Middlebury evened the contest at 14-14 with buckets from Sabrina Weeks and Harrison before the Violets scored the quarter's final four points.

In the second quarter, the visitors tallied the first 11 points in a stretch of 2:49 for a 25-18 lead, as Weeks recorded seven points during the outburst. NYU slowly chipped away at the Panther lead, cutting it to a pair at 28-26 with 4:03 left before halftime on a pair of Amy Harioka free throws. The teams both scored six points over the remainder of the quarter, as the Panthers took a two-point edge (34-32) into the locker room.

Out of the break, Dawe tied the game at 34-34 with a layup on the first possession, but the Panthers tallied the next four points via a layup by Harrison and a fastbreak bucket by Alex Huffman for a 38-34 edge with 7:53 on the clock. The hosts reeled off a 15-4 run covering 4:51 of action with Read putting in eight points, grabbing a seven-point lead (49-42) with 3:02 left in the stanza. Middlebury closed out the quarter scoring six of the final eight points and trailed 51-48 headed into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Violets posted the decisive run with two free throws from Dawe, a three-pointer by Maya Wasowicz and a pair of charity tosses from Read for a 58-48 lead with 7:03 left. Middlebury cut the Violet advantage to five (60-55) on a layup from Huffman with 4:48 remaining, but NYU recorded the next six points and grabbed its largest lead of the contest of 11 (66-55) with 2:10 showing on the clock. A layup by Huffman and Kaufman's third make from behind the arc pulled the visitors to within six at 66-60, but the Violets hung on for the victory.

Kaufman led three Middlebury players in double figures with 15 points to go along with three assists, while Huffman finished with a season-best 14 points and Weeks had 13 and five rebounds off the bench. Caveney chipped in with nine points, while Harrison concluded with six points and a team-best six caroms. Harrison was named to the NYU Holiday All-Classic Team.

Read led all scorers, going 6-14 from the floor with a trio of threes and 10-12 from the line for 25 points, while adding nine rebounds. Dawe tallied 14 points for the Violets with six rebounds, while Harioka posted 11 points. Riley Wurtz finished with game-high totals of 10 rebounds and four assists for the hosts.