HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 29, 2008) – Junior guard Dani Dudek recorded her fifth triple-double of the season in leading top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology to an 84-65 win over fourth-seeded St. John Fisher College in the first semifinal game of the 2008 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship on Friday evening at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Dudek finished with 12 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds as the Ducks (21-5) advanced to Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game where they will face the third-seeded Utica College. The conference champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Trailing 11-10 five minutes into the game, Stevens scored six unanswered points as sophomore guard Sarah Gehring and freshman forward Victoria Webber drained back-to-back three-pointers. Those buckets staked the Ducks to a 16-11 lead with 12:53 remaining in the period.
Leading by four points midway through the half, Stevens out-scored St. John Fisher 15-7 over a five-minute stretch to build a 12-point cushion (34-22). The Cardinals (13-13) answered with a 9-0 run in the span of 45 seconds. Senior forward Allison Boehm (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) started things off with a four-point play. Freshman guard Colleen Maloney (Liverpool, N.Y.) followed with a steal and breakaway lay-up. Boehm added a three-pointer from the left baseline as St. John Fisher clawed to within 34-31 with 4:24 to go.
Sophomore forward Brittany Fuller halted the Cardinals' run with a three-pointer from the left wing to put the Ducks in front by six points (37-31). Stevens carried a 42-37 lead into the locker room.
In the first half, the Ducks shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the floor and made seven three-pointers. Webber shouldered the load offensively as she scored 15 points off the bench – thanks in large part to four made three-pointers. Boehm paced St. John Fisher with 22 first-half points.
Stevens started the second half on a 6-0 run to build a 48-37 lead with 18:15 remaining. Senior forward Dora Enright began the spurt with a jumper. Freshman forward/center Paige Armstrong followed with back-to-back baskets.
The Cardinals would not go away though as they cut the deficit to seven points (58-51) on a lay-up by sophomore guard/forward Christine Isselhard (Macedon, N.Y.) with just over 12 minutes to play. The Ducks responded by ripping off a 9-2 run to push the margin back up to 14 points (67-53) with 9:31 remaining.
Leading 69-61 with a little over four minutes to go, Stevens put the game away with a 7-0 run over the course of 55 seconds. After a lay-up by freshman center Victoria O'Connor, Gehring drained a three-pointer. Enright added two free throws as the Ducks' lead grew to 76-61 late in the contest.
Enright led Stevens with 21 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field. She also had eight rebounds and five assists. Webber finished with 15 points. O'Connor added 10 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
Boehm paced the Cardinals with 33 points. She was 9-for-14 from the floor, 4-for-8 from downtown, and 11-for-16 at the foul line. No other player scored in double-figures for St. John Fisher. Junior guard Meagan Tubbs (Ticonderoga, N.Y.) and sophomore center Mary Kate Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) totaled nine points apiece.
For the game, Stevens shot 49.2 percent (32-for-65) from the field. The Cardinals connected on 38.2 percent (21-for-55) of their shots from the floor. St. John Fisher made just 33.3 percent (9-for-27) of its attempts in the second half. The Ducks dominated the glass as they out-rebounded the Cardinals 48-25.
Semifinal #2
Trailing by as many as 12 points, the Utica College women's basketball team surged back in the second half to send the game into overtime (58-58). In the extra session, the Pioneers led the Bombers of Ithaca College 64-62 with 2:03 remaining. After that, Utica went on a 13-4 run to propel itself into the title game. Senior guard/forward Karen Crisanti (Geneva, N.Y.) knocked down a three at the 1:49 mark to secure the victory.
Crisanti crashed the boards for a game-high 14 rebounds. Junior guard Mallory Davis (Rockville, Conn.) scored 21 points. She was 2-of-3 from downtown and 7-of-9 from the line. Sophomore forward Jessica Berry (Rome, N.Y.) finished with 26 points, which led all players.
Ithaca was led by sophomore guard Lindsay Brown (Danbury, Conn.), who accumulated 18 points. Sophomore guard Katherine Bixby (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. Senior guard/forward Molly Friel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted a 12-rebound, eight-point, eight-assist day.
