ELMIRA, N.Y. (January 27, 2008) – Senior forward Dora Enright recorded a game-high 21 points on Sunday afternoon to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team past Elmira College, 79-53, in an Empire 8 battle at the Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira, N.Y. Enright has now amassed 1,516 points in her four-year career, which makes her the second player in the history of the program to reach the 1,500-point plateau – the other being former standout Aracely Cruz.
Leading 14-12 with 13:24 remaining in the first half, Stevens (15-3, 11-0 E8) rattled off an 8-2 run in a span of 3:03 to grab an eight-point lead (22-14) with 10:20 to go. Junior guard Dani Dudek, sophomore forward Brittany Fuller and freshman center Victoria O'Connor all made lay-ups in the streak.
Elmira (8-9, 5-5 E8) quickly responded with a short 7-0 spurt to cut the Duck lead to one with just under nine minutes left. Senior guard/forward Bridget Catanese (Yardley, Pa.) started the burst with a three. Freshman guard Tesia Kaczynski (Mansfield, Pa.) followed with a jumper and junior guard Alysha Giarra (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) ended it with a lay-up.
After that, the Ducks out-scored the Soaring Eagles by a 19-9 count over the final 7:39 to take a 41-30 lead into the locker room. During that time, Stevens went on a 12-2 run in a five-minute stretch to get a 13-point advantage (36-23) with three-plus minutes remaining. Freshman forward/guard Victoria Webber began the spurt with a lay-up and capped it off with a three-ball.
In the second half, Elmira came within seven points at 46-39 off of a lay-up by senior guard Kourtney Troutman (South Dayton, N.Y.) with 15:51 to go but couldn't make the comeback true as the Ducks answered right back with a 7-0 streak to put the game away for good. Enright, Fuller and sophomore guard Sarah Gehring each contributed a basket in the burst.
Stevens' largest lead of the contest was 28 points, which was obtained on a trifecta by freshman forward Cindy Hassler at the 1:29 mark. Hassler had six points and a steal in three minutes off the bench on the day.
As a team, the Ducks shot 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the field, 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from downtown and 60.9 percent (14-for-23) from the charity stripe. Dudek registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. On a side note, she is now one assist away from 400 for her career. Gehring added 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, while freshman forward/center Paige Armstrong brought down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Soaring Eagles shot 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the floor, 10.0 percent (2-of-20) from three and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the foul line. Troutman finished with 11 points, two assists and two steals. Catanese registered 11 points in 21 minutes of action. Junior forward Mary Symonds (South Acworth, N.H.) posted a 10-point, six-rebound performance.
Stevens returns to the court this Wednesday when it hosts John Jay College at the Canavan Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
