ITHACA, N.Y. (February 28, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team makes history as the first squad in the program's 13-year existence to have advanced to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship, off a dramatic 59-57 win over Ithaca College to earn the 2008-09 Empire 8 title and automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Freshman guard Melissa Collier was named tonight's tournament Most Valuable Player as she landed 19 points, pulled in seven boards and produced a 58.3 shooting percentage. The Ducks improve to 22-5 and will find out Monday what seed they receive at this year's big dance.
With nine minutes left in the first half, the Ducks were behind by five, 22-17. Senior point guard Dani Dudek nailed a jumper to cut the deficit to three. Sophomore center Paige Armstrong brought Stevens within one as she laid one in off a feed from Collier. On their next offensive possession, the Ducks went up by one as Dudek fed Fuller for a jumper just inside the three-point line. From then on, Stevens padded its lead to five just before the half. The Bombers made it a one possession game when junior guard Katherine Bixby (Philadelphia, Pa.) knocked down a jumper as both teams went into the half with the Ducks up, 31-28.
Stevens maintained a slight advantage for the majority of the second half, until senior guard Megan Rumschik (East Amherst, N.Y.) buried a basket from behind the arc to give Ithaca its first lead of the half (45-43). However, freshman guard Dawn Garcia matched it with a three ball of her own off an assist from Dudek. Two possessions later, Garcia was all net when she drilled her third three-pointer of the game to give the Ducks a four-point cushion (51-47) with 7:47 remaining in regulation.
It was back to a one-point game (53-52) in favor of Stevens with 2:36 left and the Bombers took a timeout to talk things over. A Collier layup increased Stevens' lead to three, and then Dudek made it five when she weaved her way through the lane and over a defender with 34 seconds to go. Bixby then took it the length of the court to cut the margin to two (57-55) with 11 seconds remaining. Collier sunk both her free-throw attempts to secure the win, the Ducks first-ever Empire 8 title, and a bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Dudek finished with 12 points, seven boards and four assists in the win. Garcia had nine points on three field-goals from downtown. Armstrong tallied eight points as Fuller led with eight total rebounds. The Ducks out-rebounded the Bombers 43-42 and posted a 38.1 shooting percentage. Across the board everyone played very physical and stepped up their level of play. Stevens fell twice in the regular season to Ithaca, however came through with the win when it mattered most. The 2008-09 Empire 8 champions will find out on Monday, when and who they play.
For full coverage of the Empire 8 Championship weekend, you can find the release entitled: On the Road; Women's Basketball Gears Up for Empire Championship. There you can view the two-day blog and running commentary of both games. Soon to be posted will be a photo gallery that captures every aspect of the trip.
