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Division III programs don’t usually dominate national conversations. The NYU Violets have made that impossible.

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While most college basketball fans focus on blue-blood programs and Power Five matchups, NYU’s women’s team has quietly built a run that now demands attention. The Violets have strung together a 60-plus game winning streak spanning multiple seasons, a stretch that places them among the longest active streaks in NCAA women’s basketball history, regardless of division.

This isn’t a short burst of success or a favorable stretch of scheduling. It’s a sustained, methodical takeover.

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The foundation of the streak was laid during back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2023-24 and 2024-25, when NYU finished 31-0 both years and captured consecutive NCAA Division III national championships. Only a handful of programs in D-III history have ever pulled off that feat.

At the center of it all is Meg Barber, an NYU alumna who has transformed her former program into a machine. Barber’s teams don’t rely on one superstar or a single gimmick. They overwhelm opponents with pressure defense, relentless pace, and depth that rarely gives opponents time to breathe.

In 2024-25, NYU averaged nearly 88 points per game while holding opponents to barely over 50, producing a scoring margin north of +35 points per night. That gap explains why so many games are effectively decided by halftime.

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If the streak sounds abstract, the box scores aren’t. NYU regularly turns games into track meets; their opponents can’t survive.

A recent example came against Skidmore, when the Violets raced to a 118–52 win, forcing turnovers, controlling the perimeter, and burying any comeback hopes early. Games like that have become routine rather than remarkable, a sign of just how far the program has separated itself from the rest of Division III.

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That level of consistency is why the current run is being discussed alongside historic streaks across all divisions, even if the absolute NCAA record UConn’s 111-game run remains far out of reach.

Caroline Peper and the value of continuity

Dynasties don’t survive without leadership on the floor. For NYU, that steady presence has been Caroline Peper.

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The senior guard has lived through the rise of this program, winning two national titles and anchoring a roster that has seen key contributors graduate along the way. This season, Peper reached 1,000 career points and tied the program’s single-game scoring record with 41 points, milestones that underscore her role as both scorer and stabilizer.

As younger players rotate in and out, Peper has remained the constant directing traffic, pushing tempo, and setting the tone defensively. On a team that prides itself on collective dominance, her experience has become invaluable.

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It’s easy to dismiss dominance at the Division III level until you zoom out. Sustaining excellence across multiple seasons through roster turnover, rising expectations, and every opponent treating you as their Super Bowl is rare anywhere in college sports.

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NYU isn’t just winning games. The program is rewriting what sustained success looks like at the Division III level, doing so in the middle of New York City, where attention is scarce, and competition for relevance is fierce.

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Barber embraces that challenge rather than shying away from it.

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“It’s New York City,” Barber has said. “You really have to make a splash to stay in the headlines. It’s been empowering for our players to know they’re becoming part of women’s basketball history.”

The streak will eventually end; everyone does. What won’t disappear is the standard NYU has set.

With another title run underway and a roster that blends proven veterans with hungry newcomers, the Violets aren’t chasing history for its own sake. They’re chasing the same thing that fueled the first win of the streak: control the game, impose their style, and let the results speak.

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For a Division III program, that mindset has already pushed NYU into rare territory. The longer this run continues, the harder it becomes for the rest of college basketball to look away.

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