NYU athletics photo

By Riley Zayas
for D3sports.com

Many of Belle Pellecchia’s earliest basketball memories came in one-on-one battles, with her older brother, Nick, the opponent. With a four-year age difference, it didn’t take long for Pellecchia to realize that her path to winning was contingent on how well she played when the ball was in Nick’s hands. 

“I had to learn how to play defense to stop him,” Pellecchia, NYU’s poised senior point guard, recalls. 

Fast forward to the present day, and those defensive skills honed while growing up in Mendham, New Jersey, have paid off for both Pellecchia and the No. 1-ranked Violets. No longer is she going up against Nick in a one-on-one game before dark. Instead, she is facing prolific ballhandlers such as Tufts’ Sofia Gonzalez, SUNY Geneseo’s Mackenzie Reigle, the nation’s leader in assists, and Gettysburg’ AB Holsinger. But her fire and energy on the defensive end remains the same as it was all those years ago. 

And it has turned heads in the process. Heading into Thursday’s national semifinal against UW-Stout, Pellecchia’s 106 steals are the fifth-most in D-III. Two weeks ago, the University Athletic Association named her Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth season in a row. On a team stacked with talent and one that ventures to Salem with 60 consecutive wins in tow, Pellecchia is, in the words of fellow senior guard Mary Kate Fahey, “our spark.” 

“I have been fortunate and unlucky to go against her every day in practice for the last four years,” Fahey, who arrived at NYU at the same time as Pellecchia, said with a laugh. “We pretty much go against one another every possession. She’s such a special talent that doesn’t take a play off, so you never get a break. She is relentless.”

When Pellecchia entered high school at Rutgers Preparatory School, she found herself surrounded by Division I-caliber players on both the basketball court and the soccer field. The 2017-18 basketball team, on which Pellecchia was a freshman, was led by the likes of Leilani Correa, a third-round pick by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever in 2024, Brooke Pikiell, who played at Northwestern, and Jahsyni Knight, who was the ESPN’s No. 96 overall recruit in the Class of 2018. Playing time came at a premium on a roster loaded with talent. But just as she did in those one-on-one games, she tapped into her defensive skill set, recognizing it gave her an earlier opportunity to contribute. 

“I was more of a role player because of all the quality Division I players on my team,” Pellecchia said. “The only way to find the court was to play defense and rebound. So I think that shaped a lot of my basketball identity. I took that love for defense into college, and it helped me find the court here.”

NYU’s path to Salem was not without its hurdles. Sent to a sectional hosted by Gettysburg due to the NYU men’s team hosting a sectional of its own, the Violets trailed SUNY Geneseo four different times in the first two quarters, leading just 31-29 at halftime. But within the first minute of the third quarter, Pellecchia came up with a steal, leading to a Jamie Behar layup that sparked a 17-4 run in the eventual 74-53 win. The next night, in the sectional final against host Gettysburg, NYU’s lead was just 31-27 at the intermission. But by the 7:54 mark of the third, Pellecchia had a steal, one of four on the evening. With 5:13 left in the quarter, she forced yet another steal, this time scoring on a fast-break layup that pushed the Violet advantage to 15. 

“We’re a different team with her on the court,” Fahey said. “We are fortunate to have someone as talented as her out there for us, to give us that extra spark. It makes us think we can go a little harder on each possession and it definitely sets an example for myself and the younger girls that you don’t take a play off.”

Pellecchia’s defensive skill set has been in a state of consistent progression since her arrival in 2021, particularly in her discipline when guarding the ball. As a first-year who started all 27 games on a team that went 25-2, she picked up 72 fouls in her first collegiate season. As a sophomore, that number was down to 58. This season, she has been whistled for just 52 fouls — an average of 1.79 per game — while coming up with 43 more steals than she did last year. 

“There was definitely a learning curve to it,” Pellecchia notes. “But my coaches did a job fostering that, being excited about my love for defense, and wanting that for the rest of our team too. I think it helped create that culture we have, of people who want to play defense and press other teams, which is really cool.” 

But there is another aspect of Pellecchia’s NYU career beyond the energy she has brought night after night on the defensive end of the floor: her adaptability. As a freshman, she played off the ball as part of the Violets’ backcourt, with sophomore Jordan Janowski handling the point guard role. Pellecchia made the most of her scoring role, leading NYU with 13.0 points per game en route to being named D3hoops.com’s Region 4 Rookie of the Year. 

But as a sophomore, she suddenly found herself running the point, with Janowski out for the year with an ACL injury. Once again, she made an impact, dishing out 119 assists while maintaining a 13.2 scoring average. 

Last season, NYU added graduate transfer Megan Bauman, an All-American point guard at Babson the year prior. Naturally, Bauman moved back into the point guard role, again changing Pellecchia’s placement within NYU’s offense. She is now back at point guard as a senior, meaning that Pellecchia has not played two consecutive seasons at the same spot during her four-year career. 

But it is something she has taken in stride, embracing the various roles. As she notes, her case is a microcosm of the selflessness found throughout the Violets’ entire rotation. 

“It’s super valuable to take whatever role is needed to get you playing time, and that’s how I started this journey,” Pellecchia said. “Whether it’s defense, or rebounding, or getting your teammates open, I just wanted to play. From that, our team this year especially, has done an incredible job of molding into whatever player they need to be in that game. Just the other night, Caroline Peper had 29 points, and that could happen to any of our starting five on a given night. 

“That’s the special part of this team. Anybody can score 20, so it’s about feeding the hot hand. Sometimes when that’s not you on a particular night, it means you’re playing tough defense, you’re rebounding, you’re getting that teammate open. We have a lot of selfless players who do a good job of that.” 

While she may not have gotten a heavy dose of time at point guard in last season’s run to the national title, Pellecchia made sure the opportunity to learn from a veteran facilitator of Bauman’s caliber did not pass her by. She watched how Bauman, who had played in two NCAA Tournaments with Babson before NYU, handled the pressure of a tight game in March. She saw the work ethic Bauman brought to the court each day. And ultimately, she made progress as a point guard this season in part because of that. 

“I learned a lot from being able to play with Megan for that year,” Pellecchia said. “I’ve grown a lot as a player in the last four years with having more patience when it comes to offense, making it a priority to look at what the defense is giving you, read the defense, and play accordingly. Especially if that means getting your teammates open as a point guard, because that’s super important. I’ve done a way better job of that this year from following Megan. 

“I think Megan does an incredible job of breaking a press and leading a team. And she’s just a tough, tough player. She shows up every day with honestly the best work ethic I’ve seen. I saw those intangibles a lot from her and I think that’s really shown in my play this year.” 

It certainly has. Pellecchia has 110 assists on the year, averages 14.3 points per game, and shoots 59.1 percent. And that’s in addition to her lockdown defense, something opposing guards have struggled against all season long. 

That will be put to the test in NYU’s semifinal, considering the strength of UW-Stout’s backcourt. But few have any doubt in Pellecchia’s ability to rise to a challenge on the defensive end. Last season in Columbus, she saw Bauman and five other seniors and graduate students end their college careers by hoisting a trophy high. Now, it’s time for Pellecchia, Fahey, Natalie Bruns, Chloe Teter, and Jamie Behar to do the same. Or at least that’s the goal. And it is one the Violets feel is at their fingertips. 

“I say it all the time, we have people on our team who will do anything to win,” Pellecchia said. “It doesn’t matter how much they score or what the stats look like. At the end of the day, that’s the only stat that matters to them. I think that’s really important and how we’ve come to be where we are now.”