HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 25, 2011) – Junior Jillian Barrett (Philadelphia, Pa.) converted a three-point play with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to force overtime as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team rallied past St. John Fisher College 66-61 in an Empire 8 Tournament semifinal game held at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With 19 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, Barrett helped the Ducks improve to 20-6 overall on the season, setting up a championship match-up with top-seeded Ithaca College on Sunday, February 27 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Held scoreless for nearly six minutes, Barrett put the Ducks on the board with a pair of free-throws at the 14:02 mark, trimming Fisher's lead to 4-2. The Philadelphia, Pa. native then converted a layup down low on Stevens' next possession before draining a three from the right wing off a Garcia feed to put the Ducks up 7-4 with just over 12 and half minutes to go in the first.
Cardinals' senior guard Amanda Lax (Warwick, N.Y.) responded with a triple on the other end, before a pair of Isaura Guzman (Union City, N.J.) scores from the charity stripe kicked-off a quick 6-1 Ducks run that resulted in a five-point cushion.
Stevens' junior forward Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) extended the Ducks' margin to seven at 17-10 with 5:45 remaining in the half, but 14 unanswered Fisher points over the next several minutes of action put the visitors up seven at the 1:08 mark.
Connecting on four-straight from the line to get the rally started, Lax buried a three to deadlock the game at 17. Senior Colleen Maloney (Liverpool, N.Y.) then netted five-consecutive points on a jumper and a three-pointer, before Lax capped off Fisher's big first half run with a pair of free-throws.
Hoping to keep pace, Ducks' senior co-captain Paige Armstrong (Fair Haven, N.J.) notched her first basket of the evening before a pair of Webber free-throws just before the end of the half trimmed Stevens' deficit to three entering the intermission.
The Ducks came out of the break on a 4-0 run, taking a one-point edge on the strength of back-to-back Barrett and Armstrong buckets, but St. John Fisher mounted a 9-0 run to go up 35-27 on a Maloney layup. Looking to respond Stevens ripped off a 7-1 run of its own to pare the lead back down to two with 11:02 left in regulation.
Consecutive Kristi Jeffres (Wyoming, N.Y.) buckets pushed the Fisher lead back up to six midway through the second, but the resilient Ducks squad again answered, this time reeling off eight-straight points to take a 42-40 edge with 6:10 on the clock. Guzman netted five points during the span, capping off the run with a three.
Not to be outdone, Maloney drained a triple of her own to put the Cardinals back up one, but Barrett immediately answered on the other end, giving the Ducks back the lead in what was quickly turning into a see-saw affair. Trailing by one after a pair of Meghan Soja (Whitesboro, N.Y.) free-throws, Armstrong again hit from down low to put Stevens back on top, 46-45.
After Maloney tied the game for the fifth time, Benjamin found a crease in the Cardinals' defense, laying it in for two. Coming back down the floor, Fisher senior guard Stephanie Sweeney (Albany, N.Y.) drove the lane, got a foul and hit a running scoop, finishing off a three-point play to give the Cardinals a slim one-point edge. Lax then connected on a jumper to up the lead to three before an Armstrong layup once again pulled Stevens within one.
Following a pair of Lax free-throws on the ensuing Fisher possession, Garcia pushed the ball into the front court with 13 seconds left as the Ducks, down by three, got one last opportunity to force overtime. Moving into the left side of the floor, Garcia found Guzman on the wing, who pulled the trigger on a open three.
With the shot caroming off the rim, a hustling Barrett tracked down the loose ball with time winding down before turning and hitting a desperation jumper while falling – drawing a foul. With just 0.4 seconds left on the clock, the junior forward would calmly sink the ensuing free-throw to force an extra session.
Picking up right where she left off, Barrett opened up scoring in the third frame, draining a jumper on the Ducks' first possession. Minutes later, Cardinals' freshman Camaryn Buckner (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) hit a pair of free-throws, tying the game for the eighth time, but the Ducks would rip-off seven unanswered, using the decisive two-minute stretch to build a 62-55 advantage.
Guzman got things started with a pair of free-throws just under the three-minute mark, before Armstrong completed a three-point play the old-fashioned way. Garcia capped off the rally by connecting on a pair from the charity stripe at 1:18. Trying to stay within striking distance, Fisher would pull back to within two following three-straight Maloney free-throws with 26 seconds remaining, but the Ducks would convert 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Armstrong finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Guzman added 13 points and four boards. Webber finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Garcia chipped in with five points and a game-high five assists. Barrett's 22 rebounds were the most by any Duck this season.
Maloney finished with 16 points to pace the Fisher attack, while Buckner finished with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Lax added 14 points in the loss, while Jeffres, Sweeney, and Soja each tallied six points.
The Ducks typically stingy defense, which ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense (48.6) and 14th in field-goal percentage defense (32.5), held the Cardinals to a paltry 33.3 percent shooting percentage (18-for-54), while forcing 15 turnovers. Stevens, which also ranks fifth nationally in rebounding margin, held a decisive 65-40 edge on the glass – their second highest differential of the season.
Stevens will square off with top-seeded Ithaca in the Empire 8 Championship game slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 27 in Ithaca, N.Y.