MAHWAH, N.J. (February 29, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team defeated Ramapo College 62-58 in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday evening. The Ducks (14-13) got 17 points each from seniors Dawn Garcia (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Victoria Webber (Silver Spring, Md.) and 16 from sophomore Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) as they earned the right to face third seed Richard Stockton College in the tournament semifinals on Saturday. Benjamin posted a double-double with 10 rebounds.
The entire contest was tight, with neither side gaining more than a four-point lead until four minutes remained in the first half. Ramapo enjoyed a seven-point cushion after a three-pointer by Kelly Haspel, but did not score over the rest of the period. The Ducks came back with seven-straight points of their own to even the count at 27-all at the break.
Garcia led the Ducks over the first half with nine points, including a three-pointer that tied the game at 12 with 14 minutes to go. In the final run before halftime, Molly Spadaro (Sewell, N.J.) kicked things off with a three, followed by a jumper from Garcia and then a Benjamin lay-in with 15 seconds remaining that knotted things up.
Stevens stayed hot after the break, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the next period in what amounted to an 18-3 run in the middle of the game. Garcia was good from downtown on the first possession, and Webber scored six of the next eight as Stevens opened a 38-30 lead with 17:42 on the clock.
The Ducks kept pushing up the score, running the Roadrunner deficit all the way to 13 – their high-water mark for the night - when Spadaro hit a couple foul shots with 11 and a half to go.
At that point, though, the home team pushed back and went on a 13-2 run themselves over the next six minutes. That brought the Ducks' lead from 13 all the way down to two at 5:35. Stevens took a timeout hoping to stem the tide at that point.
Benjamin came up big on the next two possessions, and hit back-to-back jumpers to build the lead back to a much more comfortable six points with four minutes to go.
Down the stretch Webber was the Stevens star, scoring the Ducks' next eight points, including a three-pointer that helped keep the Roadrunners at arm's length as they kept pace the rest of the way. Ramapo cut the lead down to two with 11 seconds to go, but Garcia, the senior, went to the line and buried her free throws to lift Stevens over the Roadrunners and into the next round.
Stevens held Ramapo to 32 percent from the field and just 2-of-15 shooting from behind the arc…Garcia was 3-of-4 from downtown…Stevens made 14-of-17 free throws (82.4%)…the Ducks made six three-pointers overall…Stevens outrebounded Ramapo 39-35.
The Ducks will move on to face Richard Stockton College on Saturday in the ECAC semifinals. The game site and time will be announced later this week.
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