Stevens Advances Past Hartwick into E8 Title Game
Third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology upset second-seeded Hartwick College, 53-52, in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Championship Friday night. The Ducks advance to the E8 title game on Saturday at 4pm and will face top-seeded Ithaca College.
The Ducks led Hartwick for the majority of the contest and shot 35-percent from the floor (21-for-60), while Hartwick was held to just 31.4% shooting (16-for-51). The Hawks went to the free throw line 23 times but converted on just 14 attempts, and went just 4-for-8 at the line over the final 1:11 in regulation.
After Hartwick scored the opening basket, Stevens tied the game at 2-2 on a layup from senior
Avis Benjamin. Benjamin put in another shot with 18:33 left on the clock to put the Ducks ahead for good in the first half and went into the break with a 33-30 lead.
The Ducks remained in control in the second half until Taylor Vonasek hit a three-pointer with 14:17 remaining in the stanza to give Hartwick a 40-38 edge. Maria Foglia drained a pair of free throws at the 12:29 mark to give the Hawks their largest lead of the game, 42-38, but Stevens answered with a 5-0 run to go back up, 43-42. Brittney Dumas staked Hartwick to a one-point edge with 9:34 to take a 44-43 advantage, but a jumper from sophomore
Dylan Krause and two made free throws from classmate
Miranda Ripken put Stevens back up, 47-44, at the 7:40 mark. Dumas then drained a three for Hartwick to knot the contest at 47-47 with 6:40 left on the clock, but both teams would go scoreless over the next 2:26. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Astel put Stevens back up, 49-47, on a layup with just over four minutes to go. After a made free throw from Hartwick with 3:25 left made the score, 49-48 in favor of the Ducks, Benjamin netted the final hoop of the game with 1:24 which led to the dramatic finish.
With Stevens leading, 51-48, with 1:11 remaining on the clock; Hartwick's Dumas sank a pair of free throws to move to within one point, 51-50. After Astel made a pair from the stripe to put the Ducks back up by three, 53-50, with 50 seconds to go, Hartwick went back to the line. Dumas went 1-for-2 on her attempts and then Stevens turned the ball over with 38 seconds left. Hartwick drew another foul and once again split its attempts from Foglia to climb back to within a point. Krause then failed to convert a 1-and-1 to set up the final possession for the Hawks with 10 ticks on the clock. Foglia missed a layup chance but Alicia Razanousky grabbed the offensive rebounds with two seconds to go. Razanousky was then fouled and went to the line for a pair of decisive attempts and missed both shots to end the game after Ripken secured the defensive board.
Astel narrowly missed a double-double with a team-high 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting and nine rebounds. Ripken tallied six points with five boards and four assists.
Freshman
Erica Guketlov poured in 10 points with a pair of three-pointers. Benjamin pulled down nine boards with six points and three helpers, while fellow senior
Molly Spadaro added eight rebounds, six points, four steals and three assists.
The Ducks held a plus-14 advantage in rebounds, 46-32, including 18 on the offensive end.
Dumas led all players with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Vonasek tallied 12 points (5-for-9) and six boards. Lee Arduini handed out seven assists to go along with five points and four rebounds.
Follow tomorrow's championship action via live stats, video and radio provided by Ithaca. Visit the
tournament page for links to all three.