ELMIRA, N.Y. (January 15, 2010) – Senior co-captain Brittany Fuller netted 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team to a 75-66 victory over Empire 8 rival Elmira College. The Ducks, winners of six of their last seven, are now 8-5 on the season and 6-1 in conference play, while the Soaring Eagles fell to 1-12 on the year with a 0-5 league ledger.

Elmira junior forward Becca Fretz (Kunkletown, Pa.) opened up scoring at the 19:22 mark, hitting a jump hook in the lane as the Soaring Eagles reeled off a 6-2 run.

The Ducks responded by scoring five unanswered points, capped off by a Fuller three, to take a 7-6 lead. Still up one with 11:41 to go in the first half, Stevens rattled off a 10-2 run over the next two and a half minutes of action, capped off by another Fuller triple.

After a pair of Erin Rupell (Lehighton, Pa.) free-throws cut the Ducks' lead to six at 6:18, sophomore guard Dawn Garcia found the range from long distance, kicking off a 9-0 run that gave Stevens an 18-point edge.

Elmira would trim the lead to 15 on a Stephanie Woychak (Pine City, N.Y.) three with just 34 seconds remaining in the half, but Stevens' sophomore guard Kathleen Schuckers connected on a jumper with just four seconds left to give the Ducks a 17-point cushion heading into the break.

The lead swelled to 19 with a Fuller jumper just a minute into the second stanza, but Elmira rallied, netting 11 of the game's next 13 points to pare the lead to 10 just under the 16-minute mark.

An Ellie Kleinhans three-point play at 13:09 staked Stevens to a 15-point margin, but Elmira responded with 11 straight points, capped off by back-to-back-to-back threes from Becky Peterman (Glen Gardner, N.J.), Amanda Lawlor (Cortland, N.Y.), and Tesia Kaczynski (Mansfield, Pa.) to pull within four with 10:55 to go.

Up four with 9:50 remaining, Fuller and Garcia netted back-to-back threes to once again give Stevens a double-digit lead. After a Paige Armstrong jumper made it a 12-point advantage, Elmira netted six-consecutive points capped off by a Fretz layup to cut the lead to six with just under four minutes left.

Fuller then reeled off six-straight Stevens points, hitting a pair of free-throws, a layup, and a baseline jumper to push the Ducks lead back up to 10, ensuring Stevens' eighth victory of the season.

Junior center Victoria O'Connor added 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Schuckers finished with seven points and a career-high eight assists. Armstrong added nine points and three rebounds, while Garcia and senior Sarah Gehring scored six points apiece.

Rupell lead the way for Elmira offensively, with a team-high 20 points, while Fretz tallied 14 points and six rebounds. Peterman and Lawlor combined for 16 points in the loss.

Stevens returns to action against Ithaca College on Saturday, January 16.

The Following is a play-by-play of tonight's game

First Half

19:19 – Fretz opened up scoring with a jump hook in the lane. A minute later, Armstrong put Stevens on the board with a jumper from the top of the key.

15:02 – Down 6-2, O'Connor ended the Stevens drought with a turnaround jumper before making a steal on the ensuing Elmira possession.

14:15 – Stevens nabbed second-straight steal. Schuckers kicked it out to Fuller for the game's first three. After a couple of Fretz and Rupell jumpers, Fuller struck again, burying a jumper from the corner.

11:39 – Schuckers inbounded to Fuller who hit a layup and drew the foul, converting a three-point play to give Stevens a 14-12 lead.

11:00 – Schuckers once again delivered a great inbound pass, finding Gehring in the right for a three. Just under the 10-minute mark, Schuckers drove the lane before dishing to Armstrong for a layup and the foul. Ducks opened up a six-point margin after Armstrong connected from the charity stripe.

9:00 – Fuller netted another triple extending the lead to nine.

7:07 – Barrett found Armstrong down-low for two, but Lawlor hit a three to pull Elmira within six.

6:00 – Garcia nailed a three from the left wing before recording a block on the other end.

4:53 – Gehring tracked down a Garcia miss before finding Garcia on the left elbow, who in turn dumped it down to Barrett for a easy bucket. Moments later, O'Conner hit back-to-back buckets to give the Ducks a 36-21 lead.

3:21 – O'Connor found a wide-open Gehring in the right corner who drilled a three to make it an 18-point game, forcing an Elmira timeout. Ducks are now in the midst of a 9-0 run.

3:07 – A pair of Rupell free-throws finally ended the Elmira dryspell, trimming the deficit to 16.

2:20 – Schuckers again found a cutting Fuller on an inbounds pass. Stevens now up 41-23.

1:08 –O'Connor hit a layup to up the margin to 20.

0:29 – Woychak made a three to cut it to 15, but Schuckers drained a jumper from the free-throw line as time expired to take a 17-point edge into the intermission.

0:00 – Stevens held Elmira to 35.7 percent (10-for-28) shooting, while connecting on 61.3 percent of their shots (19-for-31). The Ducks also held a 20-14 rebounding edge, while forcing eight Soaring Eagles turnovers.

Stevens Leaders at the Half
Points – Fuller 13, O'Connor 10
Assists – Schuckers 6
Rebounds – Fuller 6, O'Connor 4

Second Half

18:58 – Fuller knocked down a jumper from the baseline to open up scoring in the second half, but Alysha Giarra (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) hit a three on the Soaring Eagles next possession to make it 47-31.

16:46 – Fuller received a pass in the corner before lobbing an entry pass to O'Connor for two. But Becky Peterman hit back-to-back threes to make it a 10-point game.

15:25 – O'Connor put back a Garcia misfire from long distance, extending the Stevens lead to 12.

13:30 – Schuckers banked one in from the elbow to give the Ducks a 14-point cushion, but Fretz connected on a jumper at the other end to pare the lead back down to 12. Kleinhans converted a three-point play on Stevens' ensuing posesion to make it 56-41.

12:00 – Kaczynski cut it to 10 with a three. Elmira took advantage of a Stevens turnover on the next possession as Lawlor drained a jumper from behind the arc to make it 56-49.

10:30 – Kaczynski drained another three to cut the lead to four.

9:43 – Schuckers ended the Stevens drought with a layup, upping the margin to six, but Rupell came right back down, hitting a turnaround in the lane to trim the lead back to four. Fuller answers with a triple from the corner as the teams traded baskets.

8:35 – Schuckers found Garcia on the wing who buried a three to once again give Stevens a double-digit advantage.

7:45 – O'Connor corralled the loose ball, putting it back in for two as the Ducks once again go up 10.

5:38 – Armstrong hit a jumper from just above the free-throw stripe. Stevens now holding onto a 12-point lead.

4:25 – Still down 10, Rupell hit a layup to cut it to eight, before Fretz connected down low after an Elmira stop to pull the Soaring Eagles within four.

3:45 – Fuller laid it in after a Stevens timeout, but Fretz answered with a layup of her own moments later to keep Elmira within six.

2:54 – Fuller hit two free-throws to make it 72-64 then hits a jumper from the corner to increase the margin to 10. The senior has now scored the last six Stevens points.

1:47 – Lawlor hit a layup to bring Elmira within eight.

0:37 – Schuckers made one-of-two from the line to make it a nine-point game, sealing the Ducks' victory.

Stevens Second Half Leaders
Points – Fuller 11
Assists – Schuckers 2
Rebounds – Fuller 5