ROCHESTER, N.Y. (January 20, 2017)  – Junior Anna Toke scored a career-high 15 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team pulled away down the stretch and defeated Nazareth College, 75-66 Friday evening at Kidera Gymnasium.

Toke added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and senior Erica Guketlov added seven points and five assists for the Ducks, who earned their fourth win in a row and improve to 7-7 overall and 6-1 in Empire 8 Conference play. By virtue of Hartwick's loss to St. John Fisher, Stevens moved into a first-place tie atop the E8 standings. 

Sam Sorge led all players with 26 points and Samantha Peebles added 18 points and eight rebounds for Nazareth, who fell to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the E8.

Turning Point

• After a close first half in which the teams were only separated by two points at the intermission, Stevens went on a short run in the third quarter to open a five-point lead after three periods.
• Nazareth chipped away at the Stevens lead, trimming the score to 65-61 with 3:35 left in regulation.
• After a Stevens turnover, Nazareth was in position to pull within one possession as the clock approached three minutes.
• Toke deftly slid in front of a driving Delaney Martin to draw a charge and return the basketball to the Ducks.
• Freshman guard Alison Criswell followed with a layup to push the Stevens lead to six.
• The momentum swing sparked a 7-0 run that closed the door on the potential Nazareth comeback.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens used a hot-shooting second half to open a lead. The Ducks shot 12-for-23 (52%) from the field in outscoring the Golden Flyers by seven points over the game's final 20 minutes.
• After failing to score more than 53 points over the season's first seven games, the Ducks crossed the 70-point plateau for the fifth time in seven games.
• Guketlov played a huge role at the point guard position as the Ducks registered 19 assists on 26 baskets. 
• The Ducks held the advantage in points in the paint, points off turnovers and bench points.
• Stevens forced 24 Nazareth turnovers.
• Despite committing 13 turnovers, the Ducks were able to regroup on defense to hold Nazareth to six points off turnovers.
• The teams were tied on five occasions and the lead was exchanged seven times.
• Nazareth held its largest lead in the first quarter, opening a seven-point advantage after scoring the game's first seven points.

Unsung Heroes

• Alison Criswell was one of four Ducks to reach double figures. Stevens had four player in double-digits for the second time in three games.
• Junior Megan Brown again paced the team in rebounds, grabbing eight boards in 27 minutes.
• Graduate student Kaitlyn Astel went 7-for-7 from the free throw line, including all five of her second-half attempts. Astel finished with 13 points.

Haughey's Thoughts

• "Anna Toke was a solid force all night. She came up with a solid charge in crunch time."
• "Erica's assists tonight were just as good as points tonight."
• "I think we need to be better defensively in terms of gettings stops and working together to do that."
• "I also think the boards need to be owned as part of our game plan and tonight we didn't do that, but we were able to come out on top in the end."

Up Next

• The Ducks continue their Rochester road trip with a Saturday afternoon matchup with St. John Fisher College. The Cardinals edged the Ducks, 75-72 on Feb. 20, 2016.
• Live stats and video links are available at StevensDucks.com

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