PITTSFORD, N.Y. (January 18, 2008) – On Friday night, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team scored seven of its final nine points from the free-throw line en route to a 62-57 win against Empire 8 foe St. John Fisher College at the Manning & Napler Varsity Gymnasium in Pittsford, N.Y. With the victory, the Ducks won their sixth game in a row and improved to 13-3 overall. They also own a 9-0 ledger in conference play. As for the Cardinals, they dropped to 8-6 and 3-2 in league action.
Trailing 54-53 with 1:30 left in regulation, senior forward Dora Enright drained a pair of free throws to take a one-point lead. After that, Stevens went on a 7-3 run in the final 49 seconds to lock up the contest and put another “W” in the column. Freshman center/forward Paige Armstrong got it going with a lay-up, while junior guard Dani Dudek and sophomore guard Sarah Gehring capped it off by making five of their final six shots from the foul line. The Ducks shot 15-for-21 from the charity stripe in the game.
In the first half, Stevens and Fisher were tied at 20-all with just under three minutes remaining. The Ducks closed out the period by going on a 5-2 spurt in the last 2:59 to grab hold of a 25-22 advantage heading into the locker room. Sophomore forward Brittany Fuller tallied the first three points of the burst and Enright ended it with a lay-up.
During the latter stanza, Stevens led St. John Fisher 35-34 with 12:28 left. From that point, the Ducks put together a 10-4 spurt over a three-minute stretch to go up 45-38 with more than nine minutes to go. Fuller started the streak with a three, Dudek followed with a jumper, Gehring added another trifecta and senior guard Jean Matusiak halted it with a deuce.
The Cardinals immediately responded by out-scoring their opposition by a 15-6 count in a six-minute time frame to clutch a 53-51 lead with 2:56 remaining. During that period, St. John Fisher clattered off a 9-2 surge in a span of 1:56 to knot the game up at 49-all. Senior forward Allison Boehm (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) began the run with a three-point play and freshman guards Colleen Maloney (Liverpool, N.Y.) and Marissa Canori (Webster, N.Y.) capped it off with back-to-back lay-ups.
Stevens shot 32.3 percent (21-for-65) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-for-13) from beyond the arc. Dudek recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. She was also 5-of-12 from field-goal range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. Fuller finished with 12 points and four boards. Enright posted a nine-point, eight-rebound day, while Gehring contributed nine points and three boards.
The Cardinals shot 36.2 percent (21-for-58) from the floor and 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the stripe. As a key note, St. John Fisher was 0-for-17 when attempting a basket from beyond the arc. Individually, Boehm accumulated a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds. Maloney scored nine points and crashed the glass five times and senior forward Ashley Dean (Horseheads, N.Y.) registered eight points and five boards.
Head Coach Jon Hochberg and the Ducks continue their three-game road trip tomorrow when they square off with Alfred University in an Empire 8 battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
