Stevens, which has won 11 of its last 12 games, is now in a flat-footed tie with Mount Saint Mary College for first place in the Skyline Conference with identical 13-2 marks heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Blue Knights. MSMC, which has won seven straight conference titles, dropped a narrow 67-66 decision at Farmingdale State College on Thursday.
Junior forward Dora Enright (Longmont, Colo.) finished with a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) against the Mariners. Junior guard Jean Matusiak (Queens, N.Y.) added 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
USMMA was led by sophomore guard Kristen Hetsko (Killingworth, Conn.), who had 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor. Hetsko made five three-pointers in the game. She also scored 12 of the team’s first 14 points. Junior center Morgan Gartner (Houston, Texas) contributed 12 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.
The first half was tightly-contested from the opening tip. Leading 25-23 with just under three minutes to go in the period, Stevens rattled off an 8-3 run to take a 33-26 lead into the locker room at the break. Enright scored four points in the spurt for the Ducks.
With just over 15 minutes remaining in the game, Stevens put together a 7-0 burst in the span of 1:35 to turn a four-point lead into a 48-37 advantage. Junior guard Kelsea Wilks (El Sobrante, Calif.) got things started with a three-pointer. After Matusiak made a free throw, Fuller buried a three-pointer to put the Ducks on top by 11 with 13:41 remaining.
From that point on, the closest the Mariners would get was to within eight points at 50-42 with 12:06 left on the clock. Stevens led by as many as 16 points in the second half.
For the game, Stevens shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the field. Merchant Marine made just 16 of 53 field-goal attempts (30.2 percent) on the evening.
Coming up on Saturday, Stevens and Mount Saint Mary will meet to decide the regular-season champion in the Skyline Conference. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. from the Kaplan Center in Newburgh, N.Y.
NOTE: Stevens has won 20 games in a season twice before – 2001-02 and 2005-06.