HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 1, 2008) – Junior guard Dani Dudek posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team was unable to come away with a win as the Ducks suffered a 55-46 loss against Utica College in the Empire 8 title game on Saturday at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. In the game, Dudek shot 2-for-6 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the line. With the loss, the Ducks fell to 21-6 on the season, while the Pioneers improved to 17-10.
Stevens opened up the contest on a 14-2 run over a six-minute span. Senior forward Dora Enright started the streak with a jumper. Dudek capped it off with a jumper. Freshman forward/center Paige Armstrong scored four points in the burst.
After that, Utica rattled off a large spurt (13-2) of its own in a time of 3:48 to cut the deficit to one at 16-15. Junior guard Mallory Davis (Rockville, Conn.) ended it by draining back-to-back threes at the 10:18 and 9:14 marks, respectively.
The last eight-plus minutes of the half saw a lot of back and forth on the court. The Ducks eventually headed into the locker room clinging to a one-point advantage (25-24).
At the start of the second half, the Pioneers quickly jumped out in front with a 10-2 run to grab hold of a 34-27 lead with just over 16 minutes to go in regulation. Davis got it all going with a shot from downtown. Senior guard/forward Karen Crisanti (Geneva, N.Y.) followed with a trifecta of her own.
Following a made three-pointer and a jumper from Stevens to make the score 34-33, Utica put together a 10-3 streak to notch an eight-point advantage (44-36) with 8:46 left. Davis accounted for eight points in the burst - six of which came on back-to-back three-balls.
Shortly thereafter, the Ducks got within 44-41 on a pair of made free-throws from Enright. After walking off the court with an injury at the 16:51 mark, sophomore forward Jess Berry (Rome, N.Y.) came back for the Pioneers and knocked down three consecutive jumpers in the clutch to take a nine-point advantage (50-41) with 4:00 remaining, which put the game away for good.
Enright finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Armstrong brought down a team-high 11 rebounds. She also picked up six points. Sophomore guard Sarah Gehring added 12 points in 23 minutes off of the bench.
Berry earned a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. She also rejected four shots. Davis added a game-high 19 points. She was 7-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Freshman guard Devon Croll (Vernon, N.Y.) added 14 points, four steals and two assists.
The Ducks now await word on a possible bid to the NCAA or ECAC Tournament. The information is scheduled to be released on Monday.
