EWING, N.J. (November 15, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team opened up its 2009-10 campaign with a, 48-46, upset win over D3Hoops.com No. 21 The College of New Jersey at Packer Hall in Ewing, N.J. The Lions, coming off a 28-5 season and NCAA Division III Tournament Final Four appearance, fall to 0-1 on the year, while the Ducks begin the season, 1-0, following a historic 2008-09 campaign in which the program captured its first-ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

After Lions' junior forward Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, N.J.) opened up scoring at 19:16, Ducks' junior Victoria O'Connor and sophomore Taryn Barnes tallied back-to-back scores to put Stevens back on top. Senior co-captain Sarah Gehring then netted her first three of the afternoon, capping off a 7-0 Ducks run that gave Stevens an early five-point advantage.

Up, 7-4, sophomore guard Dawn Garcia hit back-to-back jumpers to extend the Stevens lead to seven, forcing a TCNJ timeout. TCNJ junior guard Stephanie Prall (Kinnelon, N.J.) drained a three coming out of the break to bring the Lions within four, but O'Connor converted for the second time down low, upping the margin six.

After a Prall free-throw cut the TCNJ deficit to five at 15-10, junior Cynthia Hassler connected from downtown, giving Stevens an eight-point lead before a Brittany Fuller jumper gave the Ducks their first double-digit advantage.

TCNJ sophomore Hannah Tait (Staten Island, N.Y.) buried a triple to trim the Stevens lead to seven just before the five-minute mark, but a Fuller layup coupled with another Hassler three gave the Ducks their largest lead of the half at 25-13. However, the embattled Lions closed out the half on a 6-0 run of their own, capped off by a Tait three-pointer at the buzzer, as TCNJ sliced the Stevens lead to six entering the intermission.

Sophomore forward Jillian Barrett netted Stevens' first six points of the second half, but freshman counterpart Candace Vigo (New Brunswick, N.J.) netted nine-consecutive TCNJ points to help the Lions keep pace with the visiting Ducks. Down 33-30 with a little under 14 minutes remaining in regulation, TCNJ junior guard Keri Washington (Ewing, N.J.) hit a jumper to pull the Lions within one, but Garcia netted a three on the ensuing Stevens possession to put the Ducks back up four.

Still down four with 7:37 remaining, Tait hit another three to slice the Stevens lead to one before a Vigo free-throw knotted the game at 41 with just over six minutes remaining. Tait then converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to put TCNJ back on top, 44-41, at the 4:43 mark.

Trailing, 46-43, sophomore transfer Kathleen Schuckers recorded a three-point play of her own, tying the game with just 1:56 remaining before Gehring put Stevens ahead with a pair of free-throws after a Vigo foul. Down two, Washington stole the ball to give TCNJ one last chance with 24 seconds left. The junior launched a three, which fell off the mark but into the hands of Vigo who could not convert the put-back. Washington gathered the ensuing rebound and got a timeout with 14 seconds left on the clock, giving TCNJ one last chance, but with the game on the line, Tait misfired on a jumper with four second remaining, as Fuller pulled down her seventh rebound of the contest to secure the Ducks' upset bid.

O'Connor finished with eight points and 14 rebounds in the win, while Fuller added eight points and seven boards. Garcia tallied a team-high nine points and three assists, while Barrett put forth a 7-point, 3-rebound, 2-assist effort in the win.

Tait and Vigo led the Lions with a game-high 12 points each, with Tait also collecting five rebounds and three blocks. Kutch had nine points and three steals in the loss, while Washington gathered five points and a team-high six boards.

A stingy Stevens defense held TCNJ to 16-of-51 (.314) shooting on the day, while outrebounding the Lions, 37-29. TCNJ was just 7-for-24 in the first half for a .292 chip and 4-for-16 from three-point range on the afternoon. Stymied by the Stevens defense for much of the day, the Lions were held without a field-goal down the stretch, going 0-for-5 from the field after taking the lead at the 4:43 mark. The victory over the Lions is the 200th win in the history of the program.

The Ducks will play host to Babson College, New Jersey City University, and Wesleyan College in the 2009 Stevens Tip-Off Tournament on November 20-21.