WAYNE, N.J. (December 1, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team fought off a second half comeback bid from William Paterson University Monday night to come away with a 72-66 win.
 
The win was the fourth straight for the Ducks as they moved their record to 4-1 while the Pioneers fell to 4-2.  
 
Junior Kaitlyn Astel led the Ducks with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season while junior Miranda Ripken was the team's second leading scorer with 12. Sophomore Brittany Washington scored 10 to go along with eight rebounds. As a team, Stevens shot 48.9 percent from the field.
 
The Ducks came out with a hot start keyed by 10 points combined from four different players to build a 10-4 lead five minutes in. Stevens continued to control play before a jumper from Astel followed by a layup from freshman Megan Brown with four minutes remaining in the half extended the lead to 14.
 
William Paterson fought back with an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to six with just under two minutes left, but a layup and a three from freshman Sydney Darby gave the Ducks the 10 point lead they took into the half.
 
Stevens struggled to find its shooting touch to start the second half but still managed to get on the board with free throws. The Ducks scored their first six points of the half from the line before a Washington layup five minutes in broke the streak and brought the lead to 12.
 
The Pioneers once again fought back though, outscoring the Ducks 16-6 over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to two. From there, both teams went back-and-forth with Stevens never relinquishing the lead.
 
With just under six minutes remaining, a layup from Astel rose the Stevens lead to seven followed by a pair of free throws a couple minutes later from Washington to bring the lead to six. The Pioneers pulled within three with three minutes remaining, but the Ducks closed the game on a 9-6 run clinched by a pair of free throws from Astel with under 10 seconds to go.
 
The Ducks will return to action Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. when they battle Vassar College at 3 p.m. The matchup will mark the last game of 2014 for Stevens before it opens Empire 8 Conference play on Jan. 2 against Alfred University.
 
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