ITHACA, NY – Hartwick's women's basketball team fell just short of its third consecutive appearance in the Empire 8 Championship game on Friday night as it fell to Stevens 53-52 at Ithaca's Ben Light Gymnasium. The loss snaps the Hawks' seven-game winning streak and puts their record at 21-5.
Neither team led by more than eight points the whole way in a very tight contest. The lead would change hands seven times with three ties over the 40 minutes of action.
The two teams were even at 47 with under five minutes left in the game before a Kaitlyn Astel layup with 4:14 on the clock would put the Ducks in front to stay. One of two free throws from senior Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) cut the deficit to one and the score remained 49-48 until Avis Benjamin made it a three-point advantage on a short jumper with 1:24 left.
Sophomore Brittney Dumas (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow) went to the rim and got fouled on the other end for the Hawks and sank a pair from the foul line but Astel equaled the feat for the Ducks for a 53-50 Ducks lead with under a minute left. Dumas would again get fouled, this time making 1-of-2 from the line, and the Hawks trailed 53-51.
Hartwick's pressure defense forced a Stevens turnover and Foglia would get to the line after getting fouled on her way to the basket to give 'Wick a chance to tie. She missed her first shot but sank her second to make it 53-52 with 38 ticks left.
The Hawks fouled with 16 seconds left to put Stevens' Dylan Krause to the line. Krause missed the front end and a one-and-one and the Hawks grabbed the board and called timeout with 10 seconds showing on the clock. 'Wick was unable to convert but got the ball back out of bounds with two seconds left.
The ball was inbounded to sophomore Alicia Razanousky (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) who was fouled with 0.8 seconds to play and she went to the line for two shots. Razanousky's first free throw went halfway down the cylinder and popped out and her second caught the front-iron and the Hawks couldn't come down with the offensive rebound allowing the Ducks to escape with the win.
Dumas closed out the game with game-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds for Hartwick. Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) was the only other player in double figure with 12 points. Foglia contributed eight points. Both her and Vonasek pulled down six boards.
In the first half, after a quick bucket from Dumas, the Ducks scored the next seven points and would lead for almost 18 minutes. Hartwick kept it close and trimmed the margin to one, 15-14, on a three from Dumas with 8:56 left until halftime. A Krause three increased the Stevens' lead to six and a Brittany Washington layup gave the Ducks an eight-point edge, 29-21, with 3:03 left.
Lee Arduini (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) answered with a three-pointer, Foglia converted an and-one, and Vonasek drained a three, all part of a 9-0 run, to give the Hawks their first lead since the first minute with 54 ticks left. Stevens got the final four points, however, to enter the locker room up 33-30.
The Ducks built a six-point edge early in the second half, but a 10-0 Hartwick run would give the Hawks their biggest lead of the night, 42-38, with 12:29 remaining. Vonasek led the spurt with five points for 'Wick with Dumas netting three.
The Ducks got the next five points to retake the lead before Dumas made a layup to put Hartwick in front again, 44-43. After a minute and half, Stevens scored three points in a row for a 47-44 lead but Dumas hit a three-point basket to even the score at 47 with 6:40 to go.
Both defenses wouldn't relent as they both forced a total of nine missed field goals over nearly a full two minutes. Astel would convert for the Ducks with 4:14 left to set the stage for the thrilling final four minutes.
The Hawks ended the game shooting 31.4% (16-for-51) from the field and 27.3% (6-for-22) from three-point range. 'Wick was just 14-of-23 from the free-throw line, including 5-of-10 in the final three and a half minutes.
Arduini scored five points and grabbed four rebounds for 'Wick. She would also dish out a game-high seven assists. Foglia tied the program record for career free throws with six. She evens Katie Stanton (1993-1997) with 462 from the line.
Stevens shot 35% (21-for-60). The Ducks out-rebounded the Hawks by a 46-32 margin.
Astel led a balanced Stevens attack with 12 points. Erica Guketlov added 10 points and four other players had six each.
The Hawks slip to 8-8 all-time against Stevens. The loss snaps a six-game win streak against the Ducks.
Hartwick, which entered the game as the 3rd ranked team in the NCAA's East Region rankings, now must hope their body of work is enough to get them a Pool "C" bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The field will be announced on Monday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m. The Hawks are in search of their second berth in the last three seasons and ninth in program history.