Armstrong Powers Women's Basketball Past Utica

12/10/2010 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 10, 2010) – Senior Paige Armstrong netted a team-high 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team defeated defending Empire 8 champion Utica College 44-37 in both teams' conference opener at the Clark Athletic Center in Utica, N.Y. The Ducks moved to 6-1 on the season with the win, while the Pioneers fell to 4-1 on the year.

Junior Dawn Garcia had eight points, five rebounds, and four steals in the win, while freshman Molly Spadaro and senior center Victoria O'Connor each finished with six points. Junior Jillian Barrett chipped in with seven points, three rebounds, and three steals.

Pioneers' sophomore forward Meghan Fiore (Epping, N.H.) led all scorers with 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, while reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year Jessica Berry (Rome, N.Y.) had six points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Senior guard Stephanie Nara (Frederick, Md.) pulled down a game-high 12 boards.

The Ducks took an early 4-0 lead on a couple of Armstrong and Barrett buckets, before Utica's Katie McGee (Philadelphia, Pa.) put the Pioneers on the board with the game's first triple. Utica would trim the margin to one just under the 13-minute mark with a pair of Berry free-throws before an Isaura Guzman three followed by an Armstrong layup extended the Ducks' lead to six.

Berry responded with a layup on the other end before Garcia drained a bucket from distance to increase the Stevens' margin to seven. The Pioneers answered with six unanswered points, capped off by a Devon Croll (Vernon, N.Y.) trey and a Fiore layup, but Barrett connected from behind the arc to up the Ducks' lead to four. Undaunted, Utica would rally, putting together a 6-0 run over the final 6:11 of the frame, taking a 21-19 edge into the locker room on a Fiore layup at the 32-second mark.

Fiore opened up second half scoring with a layup on the Pioneers first possession, but back-to-back Armstrong and Barrett field goals knotted the game at 23. Still tied at 15:35 the Ducks mounted a 7-2 run capped off by a Victoria Webber basket to take a five-point advantage with just under 10 to play.

Fiore notched four-straight points to pull Utica within one, before a Spadaro layup gave Stevens a slim 34-31 edge. A pair of Fiore conversions from the charity stripe again made it a one-point game, but back-to-back Webber and Armstrong buckets put the Ducks on top 38-33 at 3:25.

Hoping to engineer a Pioneers' comeback, Fiore tallied four-consecutive points to pull within one at 38-37, but Spadaro netted four of the final six points, going 4-for-4 from the line to seal the Ducks' sixth victory of the season.

Stevens held Utica to just 15-for-46 (32.6 percent) from the field and 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from three-point range, while holding a 37-34 rebounding edge. The Ducks forced 23 Pioneers turnovers in 40 minutes, nabbing 14 steals.

Stevens returns to action on Thursday, December 30 against Brooklyn College.
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