ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick women's basketball team made an early conference season statement on Tuesday night at Lambros Arena, taking down the first-place and defending-Empire-8-champion Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks, 90-74. All five 'Wick starters plus Molly Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) had double digit point totals, and Kelly Pine (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) had a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. With the win, the Hawks surpass last season's win total and move to 9-3 (2-1 E8), while Stevens falls to 7-5 (2-1 E8).
The game started out evenly matched; neither team could take more than a four-point lead during the first quarter, and the game was tied at 17-all before Isley Sterling (Wilton, NY/Saratoga Springs) popped one in the hoop off a feed from Taylor Kurs (Rego Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy). After the teams traded baskets to start the second period, Hartwick started to pull away. Pine and Maggie Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) had lay-ups on back-to-back possessions, followed about a minute later by a pair of free throws and a lay-up of her own from Mary Schoenherr (Unionville, CT/Farmington) to give the Hawks a double-digit lead. Later in the quarter, 'Wick surpassed that stretch with a 10-0 run, including four points from Maggie Kirby. They headed into the half firmly in control of the game, up 44-28.
The third quarter was similar to the second. The teams traded a few baskets to start, and then Hartwick went on a 11-2 run that was kicked off by an old-fashioned three-point play from Maggie Kirby. Pine, Kurs, and Caitlin Corbett (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) each went tw0-of-two from the charity stripe on three consecutive possessions, and Carly Johnson (Greenville, NY/Greenville Central) capped the sequence with a steal and a fast-break lay-up to take a 63-41 lead. At the end of three, the Hawks led by 20 points, 68-48. The Ducks very slowly tried to chip away at the Hartwick lead in the final quarter, but they could not get enough shots to fall, and only got as close as 16 points multiple times, including when the final buzzer sounded.
In addition to Pine's double-double, Johnson had a fine evening, scoring a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. She now has 981 points for her career, and is well-positioned to become the 15th member of the 1000-point club over the weekend. Schoenherr was right behind Johnson with 14 points, also leading all comers with five assists. Maggie Kirby had 13 points, eight rebounds, and two steals, and Corbett just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, as well as three assists. Molly Kirby followed up her game-winning shot against St. John Fisher with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Hartwick shot well from the field, making 29 of 60 (48.3%) shots, compared to Stevens' 26-of-74 (35.1%) performance. Neither squad shot well from three, with Stevens having the edge there, 21.9% to 8.3%. The Hawks were dynamite from the free throw line, making the most of the Ducks' 29 fouls and adding 31 points on 36 shots (86.1%). Stevens also performed well from the line, making 15 of 19 (78.9%). The 90 points for 'Wick was the most for the program since the opening game of the 2013-14 season, when they took down Mount Saint Mary, 94-50. Hartwick won the rebounding battle, 45-39, and although Stevens had significantly more offensive boards (17-11), they only lead in second-chance points by one, 12-11. The Hawks had 20 turnovers to the Ducks' 16, but were more effective off of them, scoring 16 points to the opposition's 13.
For Stevens, Maddi Hahn had a game-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, also grabbing three rebounds, dishing out two assists, and stealing the ball twice. Anna Toke had 16 points on 6-of-7 from the field and nine rebounds (six offensive), just missing a double-double before fouling out in the fourth quarter. She also led all players with three steals and two blocks. Sam Winter was the final Duck in double digits, netting 12 points.
The Hawks pick back up on Friday, January 11, when they make the trek to Houghton for a 5:30 p.m. showdown against the Highlanders.
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