HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 31, 2014) – Senior Avis Benjamin (Queens, N.Y.) of the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team reached 1,000 career points on Friday night in a 73-61 Empire 8 Conference home victory against St. John Fisher College in Canavan Arena.

Benjamin tallied a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor with eight rebounds to lift Stevens to 12-7 overall record and 5-4 mark in the Empire 8. She now has 1,007 points to her credit and becomes the 10th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

St. John Fisher fell to 12-7 and 5-4 with the defeat.

The contest got off to a peculiar start, as Fisher was awarded a pair of technical foul free throws before the game got under way due to a mechanical malfunction on the backboard. After the pair of made attempts, the Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 in the first minute before Benjamin put Stevens on the board 45 seconds later.

After another made basket by Fisher to take a six-point edge, freshman Erica Guketlov (Spotswood, N.J.) drained a three-pointer and sophomore Kaitlyn Astel (Staten Island, N.Y.) laid in an attempt to bring the Ducks back to within one, 8-7, with 16:42 remaining. Then, sophomore Miranda Ripken (Fallston, Md.) staked Stevens to its first lead of the ballgame, 9-7, nearly a minute later.

Fisher regained the advantage on a three-point-play from McKenzie Bezon, 11-9, with 14:28 on the clock, but Benjamin knotted the matchup on two more free ones on the ensuing possession.

Ripken put the Ducks ahead for good in the half on a made basket, and one, with just over 12 minutes to go. Stevens would eventually head into intermission with a 40-34 lead.

Astel finished the game with a career-high 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists, while Ripken poured in 10 points to go along with four boards. Guketlov added eight points and three helpers for the Ducks.

In the second half, Stevens pushed its lead to a 12-point spread, 49-37, after nearly three minutes burned off the clock on a layup from Benjamin that gave her exactly 1,000 career points. Fisher battled back to a four-point difference, 50-46 and 52-48, with just over 12 minutes left in regulation, but the Ducks would go on a 9-3 run to build their lead back to double-digits over the next four minutes.

Stevens kept its double-digit cushion for the remainder of the game and secured a crucial conference victory. The Ducks put 73 points on the stingiest defense in the Empire 8, surpassing Fisher's per game average points allowed by nearly 21 points.

Senior Molly Spadaro (Sewell, N.J.) chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and five assists for Stevens. Sophomore Dylan Krause (Atlanta, Ga.) grabbed six boards with four points and a pair of blocks, while freshman Daphne Ginn (Lawrenceville, N.J.) sank two three-pointers off the bench.

The Ducks shot 45.9-percent from the field (28-for-61) and held Fisher to 37.1-percent (23-for-62). Stevens also held a plus-six edge on the boards, 42-36, and handed out 20 assists.

Fisher was paced offensively by 16 points from Mary Kate Cusack, 12 points from Portia Velasco and 11 points and 7 rebounds by Sydney Bloomstein.

Another big conference contest is on tap tomorrow for the Ducks against Nazareth College at 6:30 p.m. in Canavan. Nazareth lost tonight to Hartwick College, 68-35.

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