Women’s Basketball Rolls to 13th Win; Ducks Down Elmira 67-52

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ITHACA, N.Y. (January 22, 2011) – Three Ducks scored in double figures and all 10 players that saw game time notched points in the scorebook as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team improved to 13-2 overall and 6-1 in the Empire 8 with a 67-52 win at Elmira College on Saturday afternoon. Stevens was led by 14 points from junior Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) and 13 points and nine rebounds from senior forward Paige Armstrong (Fair Haven, N.J.). Stevens jumped out to an early 10-3 lead thanks to a pair of buckets from senior forward Paige Armstrong (Fair Haven, N.J.) and three-pointers from junior forward Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) and freshman guard Molly Spadaro (Sewell, N.J.). Webber followed up the Spadaro triple with a three-point play to give the Ducks their first double-digit lead of the afternoon with a little under 16 minutes remaining in the first half and Stevens was off and running. The Ducks held Elmira to 1-for-10 from the floor over the game's first six minutes and did not allow a single point over a span of 6:35 to create a nice cushion early on. Isaura Guzman (Union City, N.J.) found junior guard Dawn Garcia (Brooklyn, N.Y.) on the right wing for her first points of the game which gave the Ducks an 18-6 advantage 8:29 into the action. A lefty layup from junior forward Jillian Barrett (Philadelphia, Pa.) gave the Ducks a 24-11 lead with 7:49 left in the first, and freshman guard Jen Thompson (Linwood, N.J.) got into the action to push the lead to 15. Moments later, a Spadaro layup made the Duck advantage 17 with 6:42 to play in the first half. Garcia and Barrett converted a pair of Elmira turnovers into baskets as the Stevens lead ballooned to 20 and Webber's second triple of the first half made the score 37-14 Stevens with 1:51 left in the first. Seven-straight Elmira points to close out the period made it a 16-point game as the two teams went into the break. Stevens shot 41.7 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes, but the Ducks' defense held the Soaring Eagles to 23.1 percent shooting. Stevens doubled up Elmira on the glass (28-14) and nine different players scored points. Elmira was led by seven points from freshman guard Maria Thannhauser (Newfield, N.Y.). A three-point play form Barrett on the Ducks' first possession of the second half pushed their edge back to 19, and after Elmira tallied four points in a row, Stevens came back with eight-straight of its own to match the largest lead of the game, 23, with 14:35 to go. Two free throws from senior Victoria O'Connor (Westwood, N.J.) handed Stevens its largest lead of the day at 56-32 midway through the second half, but Elmira was able to run off a 7-0 spurt to get within 17 with 9:26 showing on the clock. The Soaring Eagles were able to creep within 14 after a three-point play from Jessica Zoltowski (Erie, Pa.) but it was too little too late as the Ducks cruised to the 67-52 win. Webber's 14 and Armstrong's 13 and nine led Stevens. Barrett had a solid outing, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds to go along with a block and a steal, while freshman Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) had eight points and three boards. Garcia was solid all afternoon with the ball, tallying seven assists, six points, and zero turnovers. The Ducks ended the game shooting 37.7 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from three. In total the Ducks hit six three-pointers. Stevens was also 15-for-23 from the charity stripe and out-rebounded Elmira 51-28, including a 19-7 edge on the offensive glass. Elmira was keyed by Zoltowski's 19 points and three rebounds and Thannhauser's 14 points. The Soaring Eagles shot 32.7 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three. They were 14-for-21 from the foul line. Stevens will return to action at Hartwick College in an important Empire 8 showdown beginning at 6 p.m. in Oneonta, N.Y.