Dani Dudek owns the school record for assists in a season after Tuesday's win over Old Westbury. |
HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 20, 2007) – Sophomore guard Dani Dudek (Rockaway, N.J.) tallied 14 points, six assists and three rebounds as the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Skyline Conference tournament with a 58-47 victory over seventh-seeded SUNY College at Old Westbury on Tuesday at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Dudek, who shot 6-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-2 from downtown, also broke the school’s single-season record for assists in the process as the second-seeded Ducks improved to 21-5 on the year.
In 26 games this season, Dudek has accumulated 139 assists. The previous record of 133 assists in a season was set in 2001-02 by Aracely Cruz (Union City, N.J.). In addition to Dudek’s record-breaking performance on Tuesday, the Ducks also established a new school mark for wins in a season with their 21st victory. The previous record of 20 wins was accomplished twice before – 2001-02 and 2005-06.
Tuesday’s win over the Panthers means that Stevens will now host No. 3 seed Farmingdale State College in the semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m. That game will be carried live at www.duckcast.com. The Rams reached the semis with a 76-68 win over sixth-seeded Centenary College on Tuesday evening. Stevens is 2-0 against Farmingdale this season. The Ducks registered a 66-55 win at home on January 22 and then earned a 63-56 road victory on January 30.
Stevens came out of the gates strong and scored the first 10 points of the game against Old Westbury, which ended the season at 13-13 overall. Freshman forward Brittany Fuller (East Rockaway, N.Y.) and freshman guard/forward Sarah Gehring (Spokane, Wash.) both drained early three-pointers to get the Ducks going.
The Panthers worked their way back into the contest and eventually closed to within 15-13 on a three-pointer by senior forward Janera Johnson (Richmond Hill, N.Y.) with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Stevens closed the period on a 15-5 run over the final 5:09 to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room at the break. Junior guard Jean Matusiak (Queens, N.Y.) and Gehring had four points apiece in the run. During the first half, Fuller had nine points courtesy of three three-pointers. Johnson helped keep Old Westbury close though as she knocked down all three of her field-goal attempts for a total of seven points at the break.
Leading 40-30 with less than 13 minutes to go, Stevens used a 10-0 run in the span of 3:28 to put the game away. Matusiak started things with a jumper. Dudek followed by scoring the final eight points of the spurt as the Ducks built a 50-30 lead with 9:56 remaining.
Fuller finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. She made four three-pointers for the Ducks. Matusiak contributed nine points and 10 rebounds. Gehring had seven points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Dora Enright (Longmont, Colo.) posted nine points and four rebounds while being limited to just 13 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble.
Old Westbury was led by junior forward Monique Midy (Westbury, N.Y.), who had a team-high 12 points. Junior center Ashawn Ferguson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added a game-high 15 rebounds in the loss.
For the game, Stevens shot 36.5 percent (23-for-63) from the floor. The Panthers made 16 of 56 field-goal attempts (28.6 percent) on the evening.
