ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick Hawks had a cold night shooting, as they connected on 27% of their shots in a 62-45 loss to visiting Stevens Institute of Technology (8-3) on Saturday at Lambros Arena. The loss drops the Hawks to 3-7 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Ducks are at the top of the Empire 8 standings with a 4-0 mark.
The Ducks jumped out to an 11-2 lead three minutes into the game as they made four of their first five shots from the floor. The Hawks trimmed the gap to six points four times the rest of the quarter before Stevens got the final two baskets for a 21-11 lead after 10 minutes.
Two free throws from Caitlin Corbett (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) made it a six-point game again with less than two minutes gone in the second period, before the Ducks scored the next eight straight points for a double-digit margin. They would end the half on a 17-3 run for a 38-18 edge at the break.
Stevens would maintain their lead through the third quarter and into the fourth. A Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) basket with 3:24 left in the contest got the margin down to 17 points but that would be as close as the Hawks would get.
Vonasek led Hartwick with 15 points. She grabbed seven rebounds. Carly Johnson (Greenville, NY/Greenville Central) was also in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) added eight points and five rebounds for 'Wick. Corbett ended the game with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) led Hartwick in rebounding with nine boards. Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) added a game-high four steals and four rebounds.
Dylan Krause led three Ducks in double digits with 13 points. Megan Brown added 12 points and Kaitlyn Astel contributed 10. Erica Guketlov dished out a game-high nine assists.
Hartwick hits the road for its first road Empire 8 road game on Tuesday, January 12. The Hawks and Pioneers tip-off at 8 p.m.