Box Score

ONEONTA, N.Y. (February 23, 2013) – The third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team fell 60-46 to second-seeded Hartwick College in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship Friday night at Lambros Arena in Oneonta, N.Y.
 
With the win, Hartwick improved to 19-7, while the loss drops the Ducks to 14-12.
 
The Hawks were hosting as the second seed due to top-seeded Ithaca's inability to host the tournament because of construction on their campus and Ben Light Gymnasium.
 
The Hawks built an early 14-4 lead 6:04 into the action and maintained at least a six-point margin throughout the remainder of the first half, eventually taking a 31-21 lead into intermission.
 
After falling behind by as many as 12 points early in the second, Stevens cut the hosts lead to six with 16:13 on the clock following a layup from junior forward Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) and again at the 13:27 mark after a layup from freshman guard Miranda Ripken (Fallston, Md.), but were unable inch any closer.
 
Hartwick built its lead back to 10 points following a layup from junior forward Katrina Caulfield (Palmer, Mass.) with 11:55 to play, but the Ducks fought back again to get within five points with 6:56 on the clock as freshman forward Dylan Krause (Atlanta, Ga.) scored five points in just 1:01 to swing some of the momentum.
 
The Ducks hung around for the next several minutes, but could not get the key stop or key bucket they needed to get closer, and Hartwick eventually pulled away for a spot in the Empire 8 title game against Ithaca. The Bombers beat St. John Fisher College 64-54 in the other semifinal contest in Oneonta.
 
Leading the Ducks was Krause with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Junior guard Molly Spadaro (Sewell, N.J.) had nine points and seven rebounds. Stevens shot 16-for-45 from the field and 3-for-9 from three. The Ducks were 11-for-15 at the line and had six blocks and three steals.
 
Hartwick was led by 18 points and eight rebounds from junior guard Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, N.Y.) and 16 points and seven rebounds from junior guard Kate Purcell (Buffalo, N.Y.).
 
The Hawks and Bombers will play for the conference title Saturday at 3 p.m., and the Ducks will await for a bid to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament Monday afternoon.

For your Stevens Athletics news “like” us on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/StevensAthletics) and “follow” us on Twitter @stevensducks (www.Twitter.com/StevensDucks).