ROCHESTER, N.Y. (February 22, 2018)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team opposes the Gators of The Sage Colleges Friday evening to open play in the 2018 Empire 8 Conference Championship. Stevens has reached the E8 tournament in every season since the program joined the league with the 2007-08 season.

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Stevens fell to Sage twice during the regular season in the first two meetings between the programs. The Gators rallied from an early double-digit deficit to defeat Stevens 66-55 in Hoboken on Jan. 11 and Genevieve Schoff scored a career-high 36 points as the Gators downed the Ducks 82-70 in Troy on Jan. 23. 

After posting a 15-1 mark in conference play, St. John Fisher earned the right to host the tournament and will take on Houghton College on the other side of the bracket. The Cardinals are looking for their third postseason title, while Houghton is making its first-ever postseason appearance. It's the second time in program history that St. John Fisher earned the right to host the conference championship by virtue of finishing first in the E8 regular season.

History
Stevens has reached the postseason in every season dating back to at least the 2002-03 season, which includes its last five seasons as members of the Skyline Conference. The Ducks are 9-7 in E8 championship play since joining the league and have claimed three conference title and the accompanying automatic NCAA Tournament appearance.

Of the four teams in the field, the Ducks have matched up with Fisher in the postseason, with Stevens winning three of the four meetings. The teams have met in two of the last three seasons, with each team earning a victory. 

The Ducks finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak and earned the number three seed in the tournament. The No. 3 seed is 4-10 all-time in the E8 semifinals since the league moved to its current format in the 2003-04 season. A third seed has claimed four postseason titles, with St. John Fisher being the last team to achieve the feat in 2014. Seven teams have won both the league's regular season, and postseason, title.

Award Season
Senior Megan Brown was recognized as the E8's Co-Player of the Year, sharing the honor with Nazareth's Samantha Peebles, who led the league in scoring. Brown averaged 13.7 points per game to lead the team and topped the Empire 8 with 10 boards per game. The Laurel, Maryland native also posted 11 double-doubles and ranked among the league leaders in field goal percentage, blocks and assists.

Freshman Christina Li became just the second Stevens women's basketball player to earn the conference's Rookie of the Year award after averaging nine points per game. The Anaheim, California native sank a school record seven threes against Alfred University on Feb. 9.

St. John Fisher's Erin Hulbert was named Defensive Player of the Year after ranking third in the conference with 2.2 steals per game.

The Sage coaching staff was recognized as Coaching Staff of the Year after piloting the Gators to an 18-7 record, including a 12-4 mark in the Empire 8, earning Sage the second seed in the conference championship, in the program's first season as E8 members. Six players taking the court in the players were named to the All-Empire 8 teams. Fisher senior Caroline Robertson joined Brown and Schoff on the All-E8 First Team, while Hulber was joined by Sage's Emily Parslow and Houghton's Brittany Lenart on the All-E8 Second Team.

Offensively Speaking
The league's top two offenses belong to Sage and St. John Fisher, who lead the E8, with 65.5 and 63.8 points per game, respectively. The teams combined to outscore opponents by 12.7 points per game. Additionally, the Cardinals and the Gators topped the league in field goal percentage. St. John Fisher shot exactly 40 percent from the field and also led the league in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 33.6 percent per game. 

Ironically enough, only four of the league's top-10 scorers will play for a league championship. Parslow averaged 15.1 points per game to finish fourth in the league, while Schoff averaged 14/9 to come in fifth. Separated by just one-tenth-of-a-point Robertson (13.8) and Brown (13.7) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Scouting Sage
Finishing with an 18-7 record on the year, Sage arrives in the E8 tournament off a 66-47 setback to St. John Fisher. The loss snapped Sage's six-game winning streak. Senior Genevieve Schoff finished second on the team in scoring, but it closing in on the program's all-time career scoring mark. Schoff attempted an NCAA-high 25 free throws in Sage's victory over Stevens in Troy and her 36 points was the 38th-highest single-game total in Division III this season. 

Emily Parslow and Macie Holmes control the backcourt for Sage and combined for 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. However, as a team, Sage ranked last in the Empire 8 with a -.2.56 turnover margin, while Stevens ranked second in the league; forcing opponents into nearly two more miscues per game.

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