ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick women's basketball came up a game short in its quest for a share of the Empire 8 Conference regular season title with a 60-54 setback to visiting Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday at Lambros Arena. The Hawks end the regular season with a 21-4 overall mark and a 12-2 record in Empire 8 play. The defending E8 champion Ducks, who entered the game on a roll with four straight wins, including a one-point victory over nationally 6^th ranked William Paterson on Tuesday, improve to 13-12 overall and 9-5 in the E8.
            Hartwick will be the #2 seed in next weekend's Empire 8 semifinals, which will be held at top-seeded Ithaca College. The Hawks will look for revenge as they play the #3 seeded Ducks in a rematch of today's game on Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. Ithaca and #4 St. John Fisher will play in the day's first semifinal at 6 p.m. The Empire 8 Championship is slated for Saturday, February 25 at 3 p.m. at IC.
            Hartwick's 21 wins stand as the most for the program since 1996-97. 'Wick's 14 conference wins to close out the season is a College record.
            Sophomore guard Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) scored a game-high 22 points today for the Hawks. Freshman guard Jo Vincents (Vallensbak, Denmark/Kent School) scored 12 points and sophomore guard Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) tallied 11. The trio scored 45 of Hartwick's 54 points in the game, combined for all eight of the team's three-pointers, as well as 12 rebounds, seven steals, and four assists.
            The Hawks tied for a season-low eight turnovers, earned 11 steals, dished out 10 assists, and shot 74% from the free-throw line, but a tough day shooting the basketball from the floor was too much to overcome. For the game, the Hawks made just 26% as a team on 16-of-61 shooting.
            In the first half, the two teams were neck and neck through the opening 11 minutes before the Ducks began to break free. A Foglia free throw with 9:09 remaining in the half evened the score at 15-15, but a Dawn Garcia jumper on the Ducks' next possession triggered an 8-point run over the next 1:45 to make the score 23-15.
            Hartwick clawed its way back in the late stages of the half as it closed the period on a 14-7 run of its own. Vincents was big for the Hawks in the run as she connected on two three-point baskets and eight points to pull her team within one at the break, 30-29.
            An 8-3 burst for the Hawks gave them a 37-33 edge with just over three minutes elapsed in the second half. Foglia dropped in a pair of three's in the span.
            Both defenses turned it up a notch as both teams combined for just a single point over the next six and a half minutes of action. The Hawks, however, still kept their lead intact and matched their biggest advantage of the day, 45-41, with 7:33 left on a Purcell triple.
            The basket would begin a critical dry spell from the field for Hartwick, though, as the team converted only a single free throw over the next three minutes and thirty seconds. The Hawks went 0-for-3 with two turnovers while the Ducks went 4-for-7 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line to grab a 51-46 edge with 3:55 showing on the clock.
            The Hawks twice got as close as two points in the next two minutes with the latter coming with 2:05 left on a Foglia runner. Stevens would counter with a big Jillian Barrett three-pointer 25 seconds later to extend its advantage to five, 56-51.
            Hartwick had two misses at the other end but hit the offensive glass on both occasions before Vincents was fouled. She sank both from the line to make it a three-point game with just over a minute to play. Garcia then threw up a hasty three-pointer for the Ducks and fouled on the rebound to put Vincents back on the stripe. She made 1-of-2 to bring the Hawks to within two, 56-54.
            It would be as close as the Hawks would get as Victoria Webber dropped in a tough shot in the paint for the Ducks with 22 second remaining. 'Wick missed a jumper on its next possession and Barrett made a pair from the line for the final score line. Vincents had two looks from three-point range in the final seconds but neither fell as the Ducks came away with the upset.
            The Stevens' victory snaps a three-game win streak for the Hawks over the Ducks. The visitors improve to 7-3 all-time against 'Wick.
            Stevens controlled the inside, out-scoring the Hawks 30-10 in the paint. The Ducks also out-rebounded Hartwick by a margin of 41-33.
            Foglia, who finished the day with seven free throws, broke the all-time Hartwick single-season mark for free throws on her sixth shot. She now has 147 for the year. Purcell contributed six steals and four steals to go along with her 11 points. Katrina Caulfield (Palmer, MA/Palmer) had a team-high seven boards.
            The setback spoiled Hartwick's Senior Day. In a ceremony prior to tip-off, Samantha Fox (Hartwick, NY/Cooperstown) and Brittany Ladner (Farmingdale, ME/Hall-Dale) were honored for their careers at 'Wick. Fox finished the contest with three rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes. Ladner started the game and contributed seven minutes of action.
            Barrett ended the game with a double-double of 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Stevens. Avis Benjamin added 19 points and six rebounds and Webber closed out the day with 12 points and six boards.
            Despite the loss, the Hawks still have won 20 of their last 22 games and their 12-game win streak is the thirds-longest in program history. They now begin the hunt for the program's first Empire 8 Tournament Championship which will begin in six days in Ithaca.