HOBOKEN, N.J. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team avenged an early-season loss to Stevens Institute of Technology after handing the Ducks their first home loss in nearly two months with a 54-47 road decision inside Canavan Arena.  With the win, Fisher, which has now won back-to-back games, improved to 12-6 on the season and 6-3 in the Empire 8 standings while the Ducks, who had won their last six games, fell to 13-7 overall and 8-3 against conference competition.
 
Leah Koonmen led the way for Fisher as the freshman produced a team-leading 13 points along with five rebounds in 28 minutes of play.  Sydney Masna finished with 12 points and a pair of steals while Ella Eckert added 11 points and nine boards in the win.  Erin Hulbert netted four points overall and chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 31 minutes.  Julia Mertsock provided a big boost off the bench with 12 points including 10 in the second half.

After holding a slight lead, 23-18, following the first half of play, the Cardinals would stretch their advantage to seven points after Masna weaved through the Ducks' defense for a layup.  The cushion, however, would slowly fade away as Stevens used an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the half, 28-27.  From there, the lead would change hands two more times before a pair of free throws in the final five seconds by Masna knotted the game up at 34-34 heading to the final quarter.

The Ducks had the hot hand to begin the fourth period as the home team built a three-point lead with just over one minute gone by.  The momentum, however, sided with the Cardinals down the stretch as Fisher used a 7-1 run to open up a 42-39 lead. 

Fisher's edge would grow to five points before the Ducks made it a one possession game with an old-fashioned three-point play.  Clinging to a two-point lead with just over three minutes still showing on the clock, Mertsock responded with a three-point play of her own as Fisher pushed its hold back to five points and never looked back.

Stevens continued to battle over the final minutes, but was never able to string together a run as the Cardinals' defense held firm while Koonmen knocked down four straight free throws to seal the win at the line.

As a team, Fisher was 16-of-52 from the field overall, however, the difference came at the charity stripe as the Cardinals went 20-of-25 while the Ducks mustered just 12 free throws in all.  Defensively, Fisher held Stevens to a season-low 47 points as the Ducks shot just 1-of-14 from behind the arc and committed 20 turnovers.

Fisher will look to make it three wins in a row at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Troy to take on The Sage Colleges in an Empire 8 bout.  Fisher won its first meeting with the Gators, 68-63, behind a double-double from Hulbert.