HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 1, 2008) – Junior guard Dani Dudek recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds while playing in all 40 minutes on Friday night as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team flew by Nazareth College, 57-41, at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the decision, the Ducks extended their winning streak to 10 games, which is one short of tying a single-season record for consecutive victories. They are also 17-3 overall and 12-0 in Empire 8 action. As for the Soaring Eagles, they went to 6-12 and 2-7 in league play.
Senior forward Dora Enright also had a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. She was 5-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line. Freshman center/forward Paige Armstrong picked up nine points and four rebounds. Freshman center Victoria O'Connor notched seven points, six rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes off the bench.
Senior forward/center Ali Sharpe (Rochester, N.Y.) led Nazareth with 15 points and nine rebounds. She was 6-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe. Sophomore forward Jamie Malloy (Penfield, N.Y.) contributed eight points and four rebounds. She also rejected three shots and swiped one steal.
Tied at 11-11 with 9:27 remaining in the first half, Stevens went on an 8-2 run in a span of 1:40 to go ahead 19-13 with 7:20 remaining. Enright scored the first six points of the run for the Ducks. The Soaring Eagles followed by knocking down two straight baskets to get within 19-17.
Shortly thereafter, Stevens ended the period with a 9-3 burst to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room. Dudek started the streak with a pair of free-throws at the 4:29 mark, and Enright capped it off by converting a three-point play. Senior guard Jean Matusiak also had four points in the spurt off of a pair of lay-ups.
Nazareth began the second half with a short 6-2 run in a time of 2:04. Junior center Lizzie Barlow (Cazenovia, N.Y.) sparked it with two made free-throws. After that, the Ducks out-scored the Soaring Eagles by a 20-6 count over the next 12 minutes to take their largest lead of the game (52-32).
In that span, Stevens rattled off a 16-4 run during a seven-minute stretch to lock up the win. Enright, Armstrong and sophomore guard Sarah Gehring combined to tally 12 points in the burst.
The Ducks return to action this Sunday when they host the Rochester Institute of Technology in their final regular-season home game. Action is scheduled to get underway from the Canavan Arena at 2 p.m. and all of the action can be seen live at www.Empire8.tv. The Ducks will also honor their three seniors as part of Senior Day. Furthermore, the contest is a "Duck Country" event and we encourage all fans to wear black for "Blackout Night".
