HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 11, 2008) – Senior forward Dora Enright, senior guard Jean Matusiak, junior guard Dani Dudek and sophomore forward Brittany Fuller all notched double-digit scoring performances on Friday evening as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team rolled to a 67-47 victory over Empire 8 opponent Hartwick College. The Ducks are now 11-3 overall and 7-0 in conference play. The win also extended their winning streak to four straight games. As for the Hawks, they fell to 2-9 on the season and 1-5 in league action.
Trailing 14-10 with eight-plus minutes remaining in the first half, Stevens used a 10-0 burst over a two-minute stretch to take a 20-14 lead with 6:01 left before the intermission. Fuller started the run with one of her two three-balls on the night and capped it off with a jumper. Hartwick quickly responded with a short 7-3 run in a span of 2:38 to take hold of a 24-23 advantage with a little more than two minutes to go. Freshman guard Fritzi Flores (Bergenfield, N.J.) drained a pair of three-pointers, while sophomore guard Heather Pruchansky (Naples, Fla.) added a trifecta of her own.
Following a made basket by Enright at the two-minute mark to snatch back the lead (25-24), the Ducks hung on for a 29-27 advantage heading into the locker room. At halftime, Enright had 10 points and five rebounds. Matusiak recorded six points, five rebounds and three assists. Fuller accumulated five points, two boards, two assists and two steals.
In the second half, Stevens was hanging on to a one-point advantage at 37-36 with 11:30 left in regulation. Soon after, the Ducks put together an 13-4 run over a four-minute stint to grab a 50-40 lead with just under seven minutes to go. Dudek and sophomore guard Sarah Gehring (Spokane, Wash.) combined for nine of the 11 points in the run. The burst also put the game out of reach for the Hawks. Stevens' biggest lead of the evening was 20 points, which was accomplished on the last shot of the night – a jumper by Enright with 11 seconds remaining.
For the contest, the Ducks shot 40.6 percent (26-for-64) from the field and 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the foul line. Enright finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Matusiak and Dudek each registered 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman center Victoria O'Connor contributed four points and eight rebounds, while Fuller poured in 12 points and thrice crashed the glass. Freshman forward/guard Victoria Webber dropped four points and swiped three steals in the game as well.
Hartwick shot 29.8 percent (17-of-57) from the floor and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from the charity stripe. Flores ended up with 10 points, four boards, two assists and two steals. Junior forward Danee Harrison (Ansonia, Conn.) tallied 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Stevens returns to action this Sunday when it clashes with Utica College, which is third in the Empire 8 standings with an overall mark of 7-5 and a conference ledger of 4-2. Action is scheduled to get underway from Canavan Arena at 2 p.m. and you can catch all of it live at www.Empire8.tv.
