Women's Basketball Drops ECAC Metro Championship Game To NYU, 54-51

3/7/2010 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 7, 2010) – Despite matching a season-high with 15 points, sophomore guard Kathleen Schuckers and the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team fell to visiting New York University, 54-51, in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro Division III Women's Basketball Championship game at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks wrap up their 2009-10 campaign with an 18-11 overall record, while the Violets end their season on a bright note, having won three-straight to up their season mark to 16-12.

NYU rattled off four-straight points to open up scoring on an Emily Foshag (Los Angeles, Calif.) free-throw and a Jen Hum-Traverso (San Rafael, Calif.) three. Junior center Paige Armstrong put Stevens on the board with a layup at 14:58 before netting another bucket just under the 14-minute mark to tie the game at four.

The Violets responded with a 6-2 run over the next two and a half minutes of action, but a Victoria O'Connor bucket coupled with a Jillian Barrett jumper knotted the game at 10. With the game still tied at 12, Barrett hit another layup, giving Stevens its first lead of the game, but a Foshag triple on the ensuing Ducks' possession put NYU back on top, 15-14.

Hum-Traverso then nailed a three to put the Violets back up four, but the Ducks mounted a 10-5 run over the final five minutes of the half, capped off by a Schuckers three-point play, to take a one-point lead into the locker room.

NYU came out firing to start the second, scoring the first eight points of the stanza, taking a seven-point lead on another Hum-Traverso trey. Schuckers again converted a three-point play the old fashioned way, before a Sarah Gehring triple tied it at 31.

Undaunted, the Violets went on an 8-3 run of their own, capped off by a back-to-back Bianca Storts (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) threes, that gave NYU a five-point advantage, but the resilient Ducks would again rally, tying the game on with a pair of O'Connor free-throws coupled with a Garcia three-pointer.

Stevens then regained the lead, 41-40 on a Schuckers layup, but five unanswered NYU points, capped off by a Grace Carmen (Fallston, Md.) three from the far wing as the shot clock expired, upped the Violets' lead to four. Down five at the 3:32 mark after a Makenzie Hirz (Santa Ana, Calif.) jumper, the Ducks rallied, with a pair of Schuckers and Armstrong buckets and a Gehring three, regaining the edge, 51-49 with 53 seconds to go.

Hum-Traverso then responded with her fourth trey of the afternoon on the ensuing NYU possession, putting the Violets ahead 52-51. After forcing a stop, Hum-Traverso calmly knocked down a pair of free-throws from the charity stripe giving NYU a three-point cushion with 16 seconds remaining. Still down three with just eight ticks left, Stevens had one final chance to send the game into overtime, but the Ducks' desperation three as the buzzer sounded caromed off the rim, sealing the NYU victory.

Schuckers finished with seven rebounds and six assists to go along with her game-high 15 points, while O'Connor and Gehring tallied eight points apiece. Barrett and Armstrong chipped in with six points each.

Hum-Traverso led all NYU scorers with 14 points, while Carmen, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, netted13 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Storts rounded out the list of Violets in double figures with 10.
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