Women's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker To Montclair State, 50-47

2/8/2011 12:00:00 AM

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (February 8, 2011) – Despite a team-high 12 points and five rebounds from junior forward Jillian Barrett, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 50-47 loss to New Jersey Athletic Conference foe Montclair State University at the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair, N.J. With the loss, Stevens fell to 15-5 overall on the season with an 8-3 league ledger, while the Red Hawks improved to 11-11 on the year.

Fellow juniors Victoria Webber and Dawn Garcia each added 11 points in the loss, while senior co-captain Paige Armstrong added four points and five boards. Seniors Victoria O'Connor and Brianne Lavin, each chipped in with three points, with O'Connor also tallying nine rebounds.

Senior forward Kisandra Ayanbeku (Brockton, Mass.) poured in a game-high 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, adding eight rebounds, while freshman guard Theresa Towns (Morristown, N.J.) chipped in with 10 points, five boards, and four assists. Junior Jaime Ericson (Flemington, N.J.) netted seven points and four rebounds, while sophomore forward Colleen Kelly (Rockaway, N.J.) finished with six points, three blocks, and a pair of steals.

After a Barrett layup opened up scoring at the 16:20 mark, Red Hawks' freshman Sara Kelley (Newtown, Conn.) drained the first of four Montclair State triples of the evening before a Michelle Montagna (New Providence, N.J.) jumper staked the home team to an early 5-2 edge.

Trailing by just two after an Armstrong layup just after the 11-minute mark, Towns netted her second basket of the contest before a pair of Ericson free-throws extended the Red Hawks' lead to 14-8. The Ducks quickly responded with back-to-back buckets before Garcia connected on a pair from the charity stripe to knot the game at 14 with 6:33 to go in the half.

Hoping to rebuild the Montclair State lead, Ayanbeku notched seven-consecutive points before a Kelly jumper upped the margin to 23-14, but five-straight Stevens points to close out the half on a Barrett layup and trey, trimmed the Ducks' deficit to four heading into the intermission.

Looking to take control, Montclair mounted 11-4 run over the first six and a half minutes of the second, building a 34-23 lead, thanks in part to seven Ayanbeku points during that span. Still trailing by 10 at 44-34 with 6:39 to go, Garcia converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way before a Barrett triple pared the lead to four.

A Montagna layup at 3:08 later gave the Red Hawks a 48-42 cushion, before O'Connor went 1-for-2 from the line as a Webber layup sliced the lead to four. Webber then hit a jumper in the lane, pulling Stevens within one with just 34 seconds remaining.

Following several Ducks' fouls, Towns stepped to the line with a chance to add to Montclair's slim one-point edge with eight seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing Armstrong to corral her fifth rebound. The senior center then sent an outlet to Webber on the wing, who found an open Barrett streaking toward the basket, but the forward missed the go-ahead layup with just three-tenths of the second left.

After Ericson knocked down a pair of free-throws to up the margin to three at 50-47, Barrett got one last chance to tie the game, heaving up a mid-court shot after receiving a long inbounds pass, but despite banking-in the would-be equalizer, the junior failed to get it off prior to the final buzzer, allowing the Red Hawks to hold onto their 11th victory of the season.

Stevens will look to put the brakes on a recent two-game slide on Friday, February 11 against Empire 8 rival Nazareth College.
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