Fuller Leads Women's Basketball To Win Over Nazareth

1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (January 30, 2010) – Led by senior co-captain Brittany Fuller's game-high 16 points, the Stevens Institute of Technology rebounded from last night's disappointing last-minute loss to St. John Fisher College with a 58-44 triumph over Empire 8 rival Nazareth College. The Ducks are now 11-8 on the season with an 8-3 mark against conference opponents, while the Golden Flyers fell to 9-11 on the year and 3-8 in league play.

The Golden Flyers started the game on a 7-2 run beginning with a Brittany Tallchief (Silver Creek, N.Y.) trey that opened up scoring. After Stevens sophomore guard Kathleen Schuckers put the Ducks on the board at the 15:09 mark to make it 4-2, Nazareth senior guard Kylie Bartlett (Solvay, N.Y.) connected from long distance to close out the Golden Flyer spurt.

Stevens sophomore forward Jillian Barrett later cut it to three, driving to the hoop for two before fellow sophomore Dawn Garcia drained a three to tie the game at seven. After a Schuckers steal, Barrett then laid the ball in to give the Ducks their first lead of the contest before a Garcia jumper coupled with four-straight Victoria O'Connor points capped off a 13-0 Stevens run.

Golden Flyer senior guard Kelly Dunne (East Northport, N.Y.) finally ended Nazareth's nearly seven and a half minute scoring drought with a jumper with just over five minutes to go in the first before back-to-back Brittany Wilson (Fairport, N.Y.) cut the lead to two.

The Ducks responded with a 10-1 run of their own to close out the half, with Schuckers and junior center Paige Armstrong combining for eight points during the crucial stretch, staking Stevens to a 25-14 advantage into the intermission.

Coming out of the break, Dunne sliced the lead to eight with a three on the Golden Flyers' opening possession, but Armstrong answered with a jumper on the other end to once again give Stevens a double-digit edge. A Tallchief layup followed by a Katie Kollar (Johnstown, N.Y.) three, and Hillary Simon (Homer, N.Y.) bucket, quickly cut the margin to three, but the Ducks would tally six of the game's next nine points to take a 33-27 lead with 15:20 remaining.

Nazareth senior Rachel Pirozzolo (Elmira, N.Y.) again made it a one possession game with a three-pointer at 15:02, but Fuller netted five-straight points, on a three and a layup, kick-starting a 7-0 Ducks run that resulted in a 40-30 Stevens lead.

Down nine after a pair of Sarah Gehring free-throws, Bartlett hit a layup, cutting it to seven, but four-consecutive Stevens' points carved out an 11-point Ducks' cushion with 4:52 remaining in regulation. Dunne then converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way, trimming the margin to eight.

Garcia and Armstrong later combined to go three-for-four from the free-throw line to again make it an 11-point affair, but a Wilson free-throw coupled with a Mary Holland (Dryden, N.Y.) three-point basket cut it to 51-44 with 2:27 left. Fuller then drained a jumper to put Stevens up nine before Schuckers closed out the game with a five-for-six showing at the charity stripe to seal the Ducks' victory.

Schuckers finished with 11 points, five steals, and five rebounds, while Armstrong added nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the win. Garcia chipped in with eight points, four rebounds, and two assists.

Dunne netted a team-high 10 points to lead Nazareth, while also adding six assists and four steals. Bartlett tallied eight points, while Kollar finished with six points and a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.

Stevens returns home to face Utica College on February 5.

The following is a play-by-play of today's game:

FIRST HALF

17:54 – The Ducks came up empty on their first four possessions of the game, and the Golden Flyers were able to take an early 3-0 lead when Tallchief connected from long range 2:25 into the action.

15:57 – Simon split a pair at the line to put Naz up 4-0 at the 15:57 mark of the first half, and the Ducks finally got on the board 4:56 into the contest with a 15-footer from Schuckers.

13:02 – Nazareth opened up a 7-2 advantage with a long three from Wilson.
11:27 – Barrett cut the Golden Flyer lead to three (7-4) with a layup on the right side and Garcia nailed a three from the top of the key to knot the game at 7-all. Barrett scored Stevens' seventh-straight point to give the Ducks their first lead of the game (9-7) with 8:57 left in the half.

7:34 – Armstrong found Garcia for an easy score on the left side to make it 11-7 Stevens O'Connor scored four-straight points to make it 15-7 Ducks.

5:24 – Dunne ended the Stevens run at 13 with a short jumper to make it 15-9, and Wilson cut the lead to four with a nice move across the lane. A turnaround jumper from Wilson made it 15-13 Ducks, but Armstrong slowed the Nazareth momentum by hitting a pair at the free-throw line.

2:16 – O'Connor hit a jumper in the lane to push the lead back to six and Schuckers hit a runner from the right side with 1:41 to play before the half.

1:07 – Armstrong gave the Ducks a 23-13 advantage with two free-throws before Schuckers' converts two more from the charity stripe as the Ducks went into the locker room on a 10-1 run and with a 25-14 advantage.

SECOND HALF

17:31 – Nazareth opened the second half on a 10-2 run over 2:30 to cut the Stevens lead to three at 27-24.

17:04 – Armstrong was able to stop the bleeding by hitting 1-of-2 at the line, but the Golden Flyers responded as Kollar drained a wide-open three from the top of the key.

15:55 – Fuller got on the board with a deuce, and followed that up by converting a three-point play to push the lead back to six. Pirozzolo answered with another triple to make it 33-30 Stevens with 15:00 remaining.

14:20 – Fuller scored Stevens' eighth point a row with a three from the top of the key and then hit a driving layup after an Armstrong lead pass to put Stevens back up eight (38-30).

11:15 – A Garcia 15-footer extended the lead back to double digits before Dunne stuck a pair of free-throws for Naz to stop the Stevens run at seven.

4:52 – The Ducks were able to maintain a comfortable lead over the next seven minutes and Fuller scored her 13th and 14th points of the second half to give the Ducks a 48-37 lead with 4:52 to play.

4:28 – Naz cut the lead back to eight with a three-point play on their next possession, but Stevens scored the game's next three points at the foul line to maintain an 11-point edge with less than four minutes to play.

2:27 – Nazareth cut the lead to seven (51-44) on a three-pointer from Holland.

1:51 – Fuller continued her great second half with a 14-footer on the offensive end to get the lead back to nine and her block on the following Nazareth possession put the game away with 1:39 left.

0:49 – Schuckers hit five-of-six at the line down the stretch and the Ducks ended up winning by the 58-44 final.
Print Friendly Version