ALFRED, N.Y. (February 4, 2011) – Senior center Victoria O'Connor (Westwood, N.J.) grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, while going 5-for-7 from the floor for a team-high 12 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team earned a 63-45 victory over Empire 8 rival Alfred University at the McLane Center in Alfred, N.Y. With the win the Ducks moved to 15-3 on the season with an 8-2 league ledger, while the Saxons fell to 8-11 on the year with a 3-7 mark against conference opponents.
After Stevens' Jillian Barrett (Philadelphia, Pa.) opened up scoring with a put-back at 19:28, Alfred mounted a 10-2 run, taking a six-point edge on a pair of Grace Williamson (Olean, N.Y.) free-throws. The Ducks quickly responded by rattling off six unanswered over the next four minutes of action, as junior Isaura Guzman (Union City, N.J.) converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way before connecting from behind the arc to knot the game at 10 with 9:32 left in the half.
With the score tied at 14 after another Williamson tally from the charity stripe, the Ducks reeled off eight-consecutive points – with Barrett tallying six of the run's eight scores – to take a 22-14 advantage. Williamson would later pare the deficit down to six with a jumper at the 3:12 mark, but an O'Connor layup and Dawn Garcia (Brooklyn, N.Y.) triple to close out the half gave Stevens an 11-point margin heading into the intermission.
The Ducks' cushion would swell to 14 on a pair of Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) free-throws coming out of the break, but a quick Lyndsay Murphy (Almond, N.Y.) trey on the ensuing Saxons possession sparked a 12-2 rally that cut the Stevens lead to just four following a Courtney Lincoln (Waterloo, N.Y.) free-throw.
Hoping to Stevens rebuild its lead, freshman Jen Thompson (Linwood, N.J.) drilled a triple, before a Guzman layup and another Thompson three extended the Ducks' advantage to 12 with 11:25 remaining. Trying to help Alfred keep pace, freshman Sarah Federico (Buffalo, N.Y.) netted the game's next four points, before a pair of Murphy free-throws cut the Saxons' deficit back down to six just under the 10-minute mark, but the Ducks' responded with four-straight points to push the lead back up to double-digits.
Still up 10 at 47-37 with 6:41 to go, O'Connor tallied four of the game's next six points to help Stevens to a 16-point edge. From there the Ducks put the wraps on a decisive 20-6 run over a seven and a half minute stretch, going up by 20 with 2:07 left on the clock after a pair of Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) layups.
Barrett finished with 10 points and four rebounds in the win, while Webber and Benjamin combined for 14 points and five rebounds. Thompson and Guzman each added eight points, while Garcia finished with nine points, four assists, and three rebounds. Murphy led all scorers with 16 points, adding five rebounds, while Williamson and Lincoln each tallied 10 points in the loss.
Stevens, which shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the field and held a 40-35 rebounding edge, held Alfred to a paltry 23.9 shooting percentage (11-for-46), while forcing 24 turnovers.
The Ducks are back in action on Saturday, February 4, against St. John Fisher College.