| Avis Benjamin finished with
13 points off the bench for Stevens. Stevens athletics file photo |
Avis Benjamin completed a three-point play with two seconds left and Stevens handed No. 6 William Paterson a heartbreaking loss on Tuesday night, 69-68.
The loss is just the second on the season for the Pioneers, snapping an eight-game winning streak.
Benjamin hit a shot in the lane, tying the game at 68 and drawing a foul in the process. The sophomore went to the line and sank the ensuing free throw, giving the Ducks the upset victory. Jillian Barrett led Stevens with 21 points, including a huge three-pointer that tied the game with 42 seconds to go.
William Paterson came into the game with just one loss on the year, but it was Stevens (12-12) that came out of the gate hot, shooting 83 percent from the field over the first 10 minutes of the game. The Ducks scored 12 of the first 14 points of the matchup as Victoria Webber made her presence felt with seven of those opening points.
Both Barrett and Webber were in double figures by the end of the first half, as Stevens could not have played much better over the opening period. The Ducks shot 58 percent from the field, were 4-of-8 from behind the arc and hit every one of their five free throws.
Benjamin had eight points in the first half, and Webber was 2-for-3 from behind the arc.
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Even with the near-perfect start, the talent-laden Pioneers were able to hang with the Ducks, and they battled back to tie the game at the break. April Smith was nearly unstoppable in the first half, going 7-of-9 from the floor and scoring 20 points in the first half.
As the second period began, Paterson began to assert itself and quickly built up a seven-point lead in less than five minutes. It was the first time the Pioneers had led all night.
However, Smith was in foul trouble in the second half and the Ducks took advantage of her absence in the middle of the second to climb back in it. Trailing by five, seniors Dawn Garcia and Kate Cox nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give Stevens its first lead of the second half with 8:41 to go.
The Pioneers scored the next six points, capped by a couple BriAnna Lucas runners as they re-took a five-point lead with less than five minutes remaining. They would prove to be the last WPU field goals of the game as Stevens played lock-down defense from that point on.
Garcia hit a shot at the three-minute mark, and Barrett came up with a huge defensive rebound with the Ducks trailing by three with a minute to go. After a Stevens timeout, Barrett drained a three-pointer from the right wing as the crowd exploded. The play was remarkably similar to some other late-game heroics the senior has been a part of over the past two seasons.
The Ducks fouled on the next possession, and Lucas made both free throws to give Paterson a two-point lead with 15 seconds to go. Stevens was forced to play on from the inbounds pass as they had no timeouts.
Garcia drove the ball into the lane but missed the layup. Benjamin picked the ball off the floor and somehow made a fadeaway bank shot as she was fouled to tie the game with two seconds to go.
At the free-throw line, Benjamin swished it to give the Ducks the lead. The Pioneers chose not to call a timeout, and the last-second desperation shot from behind the midcourt line sailed wide as the Ducks capped a wild and riveting 69-68 comeback victory.
The Ducks out-rebounded the Pioneers 37-36…WPU shot just 1-of-16 from behind the arc...the Ducks finished the game with nine three-pointers, and Garcia was 3-for-4 from downtown.
The Ducks evened their season record at 12-12 and will close out the regular season with a visit to Hartwick College on Saturday at 2 p.m. With a win, Stevens will guarantee itself the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament and a rematch with the Hawks in the opening round.
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