CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team rallied from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit for its first-ever road win over DeSales Wednesday evening, taking the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom contest by a 54-51 final.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Leyla Castro broke the ice after a scoreless opening two minutes for both teams with a three-pointer. Dorothy Loffredo and Audrey Kehoe both added baskets for the Ducks, but the Bulldogs opened a 14-7 lead before Stevens trimmed the deficit back to three, 16-13 at the end of the quarter, courtesy of an Isabella Duval three, Kehoe layup, and a free throw by Lucy Alberici.

Stevens (10-6, 4-1 MACF) trimmed the Bulldogs' lead to one point on two occasions in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter on a layup from Castro and jumper from Olivia Schubiger, ultimately taking its first lead of the game after back-to-back jump shots from Fiona O'Boyle and Schubiger. DeSales took the lead back on the following possession, eventually taking a 31-23 lead before jumpers from Loffredo and Schubiger pulled the Ducks back within four, 31-27 at halftime.

Schubiger scored the Ducks' first six points of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 34-33 just shy of the midway mark before the Bulldogs pushed their lead back up to seven, 41-34. Another Schubiger jumper and two Castro free throws kept Stevens within a single possession, but DeSales closed the period with five straight to match their largest lead of the night.

While holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 5+ minutes of the quarter, the Ducks' comeback began with a Schubiger jumper at the 7:27 mark. Castro halved the deficit with a three-pointer at the 5:15 mark.

Loffredo and Alberici answered two DeSales free throws with a jumper and layup on Stevens' next two possessions, making it a one-point game. After an offensive foul was called on the Bulldogs, another Alberici layup put the Ducks up for the first time since the second quarter, and a Loffredo jumper provided the Red and Gray some breathing room and forced a DeSales timeout.

The Bulldogs cut it to one on a layup with 52 seconds remaining, but Loffredo and Castro made three of four from the charity stripe down the stretch to close out the milestone victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kehoe finished with 15 rebounds, her second 15+-board outing in her last three games; she's averaging 10.25 boards over her last eight games after averaging just 3.25 in the first eight games of the season.
• Stevens forced 18 DeSales turnovers, the most by the Bulldogs in conference play and fourth-most in any DeSales game this season.
• Alberici ripped down a season-best 10 rebounds.
• Loffredo led all players and tied a career-high with five assists.

UP NEXT
The Ducks square off with FDU-Florham on Saturday, January 25, at 1:00 pm.