Women's Basketball Falls Short in 77-74 Overtime Thriller at Montclair State

2/15/2008 12:00:00 AM

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (February 15, 2008) - Trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team surged back in the second half by scoring 39 of 64 points to send the game into overtime at 64-all. But, the comeback was not enough as the Red Hawks of Montclair State University edged out the Ducks by a 77-74 count. With the loss, Stevens had its 12-game winning streak halted and fell to 19-4 for the season. Montclair improved its overall mark to 14-9.

Knotted up at 68-68 with 2:44 remaining the extra session, sophomore forward Brittany Fuller drained a three with 2:08 to go to give the Ducks a 71-68 advantage. Soon after, sophomore forward and Red Hawks' leading-scorer Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, N.J.) knocked down a pair of shots from downtown. That proved to be all Montclair would need as it hung on to the lead for good. The Ducks though did get within one point on a lay-up from the hands of freshman forward/center Paige Armstrong with 21 seconds to go.

In the opening stanza, Stevens was leading 19-18 with just over seven minutes left. The hosts out-scored the Ducks 20-6 over the last 7:04 to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room. In that span, the Red Hawks went on a 15-2 run in a period of 4:34 to grab hold of a 15-point favor (36-21) with 1:54 left.

The trio of senior guard Cynthia Warrington (Villas, N.J.) as well as sophomore guards Jamilee Pflug (Clark, N.J.) and Kisandra Ayanbeku (Burlington, Mass.) drained back-to-back-to-back trifectas to start the streak. Sophomore guard Jackie Berry (Tuckerton, N.J.) capped it off with a three-ball of her own.

Stevens opened up the second half on a 17-2 run in a five-minute stretch to take its first lead (42-40) since the 8:03 mark of the first half. Fuller went on a tear by notching nine points in the burst off three long-range makes. Freshman center Victoria O'Connor ended it with consecutive lay-ups. That spurt was followed by 13-plus minutes of back and forth action.

Tied at 62-all with 49 seconds in regulation, junior guard Dani Dudek put in a lay-up to clutch a 64-62 advantage. However, a pair of made attempts from the free-throw line by Cristino sent the contest into overtime

The Ducks shot 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from the field, 50.0 percent (8-for-16) from downtown and 70.0 percent (14-for-20) from the charity stripe. Senior forward Dora Enright finished the night with a double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds). Fuller accumulated 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (4-6 3-FG). She also swiped four steals. Armstrong added 10 points, while O'Connor recorded 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Red Hawks shot 38.9 percent (28-of-72) from the floor, 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from long-range and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the foul line. Senior guard Jessica Garrabant (Denville, N.J.) poured in a game-high 22 points. She also crashed the glass for eight boards. Cristino collected 14 points and six rebounds. Berry contributed 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Head Coach Jon Hochberg and his squad return to the court this Sunday when they travel to Utica, N.Y. for a 2 p.m. battle at Empire 8 rival Utica College. You can see all of the action live at www.Empire8.tv.
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