ITHACA, N.Y. (February 24, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team dropped a 72-49 decision to Hartwick College in the semifinals of the 2012 Empire 8 Championship on Friday evening. Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) lead Stevens with 15 points and Jillian Barrett (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished with her twelfth double-double of the season. The Ducks fall to an even 13-13 on the year, while Hartwick advances to Saturday's Empire 8 Championship Game.

Dawn Garcia (Brooklyn, N.Y.) opened the scoring with a three pointer from the top of the key that gave the Ducks a 3-0 lead. A few possessions later, Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) saved a ball out of bounds and that led to a lay-in for Barrett. The game was tight over the opening five minutes, with the Hawks holding a 10-9 lead.

Hartwick earned the next four points, until Webber hit a baseline jumper with 12 minutes to go to trim the lead to three. A steal by Garcia and her nice feed to Webber in the lane cut the cushion back to one on the following trip down the floor.

After a few fruitless possessions, Benjamin shook her defender and drove left with eight minutes to go, re-taking the lead for Stevens and forcing the Hawks to take their first timeout. It was short-lived, however, as Hartwick made a layup of its own to re-take the 18-17 lead with seven-and-a-half to go.

A tough foul call on Kate Cox (Aston, Pa.) gave Hartwick one-and-one at the line. Josephine Vincents (Vallensbak, Denmark) made both to take a seven point lead, their largest of the game to that point.
The second half began with a second-chance lay-in by Kate Purcell (Buffalo, N.Y.), and Purcell's jumper the next trip quickly gave the Hawks a nine-point cushion. The Hawks would start the second half on a run 6-0 before Benjamin hit a free throw to stem the tide.

Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, Hartwick was on an 18-7 run. One Stevens highlight was Barrett's block on Purcell that sent the sophomore guard straight to the floor with an audible thud.

It was Hartwick's three-point shooting that was the story of the game. The Hawks seemed to make them when they needed it most, whether it was to check a Duck run or when the 30-second clock was expiring. They made 10 over the course of the night.

Hartwick pulled away as the game wound down and earned the victory. The Hawks advance to the Empire 8 Championship game where they will take on Ithaca College on Saturday.

Stevens will await word of a possible ECAC tournament berth next week.

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