Three Ducks Hit Double-Digits As Stevens Downs RIT On National Girls and Women in Sports Day
HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 12, 2011) – Three Ducks finished in double-figures, led by junior guard Dawn Garcia’s team-high 14 points, as the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s basketball team swept its season series with Empire 8 rival Rochester Institute of Technology, downing the Tigers, 65-52, during Stevens’ National Girls and Women in Sports Day “Play, Believe, Achieve” festivities at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J.
With the win the Ducks improved to 17-5 overall on the season with a 10-3 mark against conference opponents, while RIT fell to 5-17 on the year with a 3-10 league ledger.
Stevens raced out to an early advantage, outscoring their Tiger counterparts 19-4 over the first 10 minutes of action. Junior forward Jillian Barrett opened up scoring with a pair of free-throws before five-straight Garcia points on a jumper and three-pointer put Stevens ahead 7-0 with just under 18 minutes left in the half.
RIT sophomore guard Leslie Havens (Wayland, N.Y.) would put the Tigers on the board with a basket at 16:54 before 10 unanswered points capped off by five-consecutive Isaura Guzman scores gave Stevens a double-digit edge. Junior Anne Wapshare (Hasdell, N.Y.) momentarily stemmed the Ducks’ tide with a bucket to cut it to 17-4, but consecutive Guzman and Avis Benjamin buckets upped the Stevens lead to 19.
The Tigers would pare the lead back down to 16 at 6:51 following a pair of Jess Kramer (Fayetteville, N.Y.) free-throws, but the Ducks would outscore RIT 6-3 for the remainder of the half, taking a 19-point cushion into the locker room.
Hoping to build on their first-half momentum, Stevens mounted a 15-7 run to begin the second, taking a 44-17 lead with 14:19 to go. Wapshare opened the frame with a quick triple, but a Victoria O'Connor layup, coupled with back-to-back Garcia and Webber baskets staked the Ducks to a 22-point edge.
Freshman center Courtney Tennant (Cortland, N.Y.) and Kramer responded by hitting a pair from down low, trimming the margin to 18, but four-straight O’Connor points, a Garcia jumper and a Molly Spadaro trey, quickly pushed Stevens’ lead to 27.
RIT would battle back to within 16 over the next five minutes of action, rattling off a 19-8 run that sliced the lead to 52-36 on a Havens three, but another O’Connor layup followed by a Brianne Lavin triple put the Ducks back up 21 with 8:05 to go.
Down the stretch, the Tigers frantically tried to keep pace, pulling to within 11 on a Kramer free-throw with just 38 seconds on the clock, but by then the Ducks had all but sealed their 17th victory of the season.
Garcia, who went a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor led Stevens with 14, while O'Connor and Barrett added 12 and 11, respectively. Guzman finished with seven points and six rebounds, while O'Connor also tallied a game-high 11 boards.
Kramer led all scorers with 17 points, adding six assists, while Tennant finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Wapshare and Havens finished with eight and six points, respectively, with the duo combining for five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Stevens, which shot 48 percent (26-for-54), held RIT to just 17-for-55 from the floor including a 3-for-23 clip in the first half. A stifling Ducks’ defense, that held the Tigers to just 10 points during the first frame, also forced 17 turnovers, while holding a decisive 45-27 rebounding edge.