Stevens Hosts St. John Fisher in Women's Basketball Semifinal
HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 24, 2011) – Fresh off a thrilling 51-46 victory over league-leading Ithaca College in its regular season finale, the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s basketball team enters its Empire 8 Tournament semifinal match-up with St. John Fisher College as the No. 2 seed. With the victory over the Bombers, who entered last weekend’s contest with an unblemished 15-0 conference tally, Stevens earned the right to host the third-seeded Cardinals at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. on Friday, February 25. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
Behind second-team All-Empire 8 honorees Jillian Barrett and Victoria Webber, the Ducks posted a 19-6 overall mark in 2010-11 with a 12-4 league ledger. St. John Fisher, led by first-teamer and three-time All-Conference honoree >Colleen Maloney (Liverpool, N.Y.), who led the Cardinals in almost every major statistical category including scoring with 18.0 points per contest, finished the regular season 15-10 overall with a 12-4 record against conference opponents.
Barrett and Webber paced the Ducks’ offensively this season, averaging 11.5 and 11.1 points per game, respectively, with Barrett also pulling down a team-high 7.5 per contest. Stevens split a pair of matches with St. John Fisher this year, with a consistent Barrett again leading the squad in points with 11.5 per game. Junior Isaura Guzman also excelled against the Cardinals, averaging 10.5 points in two games, while freshman Avis Benjamin averaged 8.5 points and four rebounds. Juniors Webber and Dawn Garcia averaged seven points apiece in a pair of games with Fisher, while senior center Victoria O’Connor pulled down a team-best 7.5 boards.
Stevens captured the first meeting this season between the two Empire 8 rivals, 63-45, at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. on January 14. Guzman poured in a game-high 16 points, while Barrett added 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, adding four rebounds and four assists. Garcia finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the win.
Maloney and Camaryn Buckner (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) each tallied 12 points to lead Fisher, with Bucker going 5-for-9 from the field. Meghan Soja (Whitesboro, N.Y.) had eight points in the loss, while Amanda Lax (Warwick, N.Y.) finished with seven points and three boards.
Maloney led all scorers with 20 points in the rematch, a 56-49 loss at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym in Pittsford, N.Y. Soja added 11 points and 10 boards, while Buckner chipped in with seven points, five rebounds, and three assists in the win.
Benjamin led the Ducks with 11 points and six rebounds, while O’Connor added nine points and 12 boards. Webber and Barrett each added eight points, with the duo combining for 11 rebounds.
The Ducks held a plus-18 rebounding edge in the victory over the Cardinals, while Fisher outrebounded Stevens by seven in their victory. The Ducks shot just 31.3 percent from the field against St. John Fisher, including a 16-for-60 showing in the second game. Stevens, which shot just 22.0 percent from three-point range, held the Cardinals to 34.7 percent shooting in their two match-ups this season. The Ducks forced 36 turnovers against Fisher, but turned it over 19 times in their loss in Pittsford, N.Y.
Solid defensively, Stevens currently ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense (48.6) and 14th in field-goal percentage defense (32.5). The Ducks also sit fifth in rebounding margin (+12.7). St. John Fisher currently ranks 15th nationally in blocks per game with 5.6 per game.