Hochberg Sets School Record for Career Victories as Women's Basketball Defeats Utica, 70-53

2/17/2008 3:45:00 PM

UTICA, N.Y. (February 17, 2008) – In just his third season as head coach of the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball program, Jon Hochberg became the all-time leader in career wins (61) as the Ducks downed the Pioneers of Utica College, 70-53, on Sunday afternoon at the Clark Gymnasium in Utica, N.Y. He surpasses Tom Sclafani, who accumulated 60 victories from 1998-2002. With the decision, Stevens went to 20-4 overall and 15-0 in conference action. It also earned the No. 1 seed for the Empire 8 Tournament. As for Utica, it dropped to 13-10 and 8-6 in league play.

The Pioneers opened up the contest on an 8-0 run in a span of 1:54. Sophomore forward Jessica Berry (Rome, N.Y.) scored six points in the spurt. After a pair of made baskets from the Ducks cut the deficit to four, Utica went on another burst. This time, the Pioneers rattled off a 10-4 streak over five-plus minutes of game time to take a 18-8 lead with under 11 minutes remaining. Senior guard Laura Keating (Whitesboro, N.Y.) notched back-to-back jumpers at the 15:20 and 14:06 marks, respectively.

Shortly thereafter, the Ducks put together a short 7-0 run to come within three at 18-15 with 9:17 to go. Freshman forward/guard Victoria Webber got it going with a trifecta. Freshman center/forward Paige Armstrong followed with a lay-up, and junior guard Dani Dudek capped it off with a deuce.

Two minutes later, Utica was ahead by four (23-19) until an 11-0 spurt in a three-minute stretch got the Pioneers their largest lead of the half at 34-19 with 4:07 remaining. Junior guard Mallory Davis (Rockville, Conn.) scored eight of the points in the streak.

The Ducks ended up going into the locker room down by five (35-30) as they went on an 11-1 burst to close out the period. Senior guard Jean Matusiak started the run with a three. Sophomore guard Sarah Gehring ended it with a shot from downtown as well with 14 seconds to go.

The second half saw a lot of back-and-forth on the court, but Stevens finally took a 50-49 advantage at the 10:15 mark on a made free-throw by Dudek. From that juncture, the Ducks never looked back as they out-scored the Pioneers by a 20-4 count over the final 4:17. In that span, sophomore forward Brittany Fuller knocked down three long-range bombs. She was 4-of-9 from downtown for the game.

Stevens shot 37.7 percent (23-for-61) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from beyond the arc and 84.2 percent (16-for-19) from the foul line. Dudek posted a triple-double with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Enright, Fuller and Matusiak each finished with 12 points on the day.

Utica shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the floor, 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from long distance and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the charity stripe. Berry collected a game-high 18 points. She also crashed the boards for a team-leading six rebounds. Davis added 16 points and two assists. Keating tallied 10 points and three assists in 19 minutes off the bench.

The Ducks return to the court this Friday when they wrap up the regular season at conference rival Ithaca College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Print Friendly Version