When looking at the pieces of the Stony Brook women’s basketball team’s puzzle, point guard Gigi Gonzalez may very well be the biggest one.

Gonzalez is the prototypical floor general that most basketball coaches dream of. Her passing ability and court vision makes everyone around her better, while her handles, shooting ability and speed help her put points on the board. Her quick-twitch reactions, toughness and active hands make her a nightmare on defense for opposing ball handlers and shooters alike.

Gonzalez set career-highs across the board last year in her senior season, leading Stony Brook to become the second-best scoring offense in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). She earned 2022-23 All-CAA Third Team honors for her performance. She was second in the conference in assists (133) and assists per game (4.3), while her 60 steals tied her for fifth and her 1.9 per game were the seventh-most. She was also sixth in the CAA with an .832 free throw percentage.

By earning the All-Conference honor, Gonzalez finally reaped the fruits of her labor.

“It means a lot because we put in so much work and it shows that it does actually pay off,” Gonzalez said in an interview with The Statesman. “It’s important to be recognized for the hard work that you put in.”

Now back for her fifth year with the Seawolves, she was selected by coaches in the conference to the 2023-24 Preseason All-CAA Second Team. After steadily improving through each of her first four years, Gonzalez is ready to go out with a bang.

“From me, expect more dimes, more points, more steals,” Gonzalez said.

As good a player as she has become, the graduate student from Miramar, Fla. did not hit the ground running. Gonzalez put herself on the NCAA Division I map with a promising five-year stint with the Miami Suns in the Amateur Athletic Union and an illustrious four-year varsity career at Nova High School in Florida. Among all the offers she had received, Gonzalez committed to Stony Brook to branch out in an attempt to leave her safe space and find a new place to call home.

However, the start to her collegiate career did not go exactly as she had hoped it would.

Gonzalez’s freshman year was rough, as she was buried on the depth chart and only appeared in 21 of the team’s 31 games. Even when she saw the court, she barely got any burn, playing just 9.7 minutes per game. She struggled in her occasional appearances, posting just a .242/.280/.500 shooting line while turning the ball over 34 times.

For Gonzalez, the significant difference in pace from high school basketball to college caught her off guard.

“It was so different,” Gonzalez said. “The speed changes so much. You really don’t have any idea until you come in and play a game. It was like ‘Wow. This is different. This is not what I have done before.’”

After former starting point guard Kaela Hilaire graduated in spring 2020, space was cleared for Gonzalez to see the floor. However, Stony Brook’s coaching staff brought in then-junior Asiah Dingle from Kent State to assume point guard duties over her. Gonzalez’s sophomore year wound up being a similar story to her freshman campaign, as she averaged only 11.2 minutes per game in 19 appearances.

During her tenure as a bench player, her sensitivity often got the best of her.

“I am very sensitive,” Gonzalez said. “Coaches have a certain way of saying things sometimes, like yelling. You can’t focus on how they are saying but what they are saying. At the end of the day they want the best for you … sometimes it’s still hard.”

That same year, Dingle helped lead the squad to its first-ever national tournament appearance, while Gonzalez was relegated to being a role player. Her .400/.217/.714 triple slash was an improvement over the one she had posted in 2019-20, but she still had less assists than turnovers and struggled to see the floor in meaningful moments.

During that time, when Gonzalez became a part of Stony Brook history as a role player, she realized that the team’s goals are more important than her own.

“Sometimes you don’t see what your coach sees,” Gonzalez said. “So you can be mad or frustrated that you are not playing. I try not to go down that route … but there is a bigger picture at the end of the day. As long as my team [is] winning … that’s all that matters.”

After that NCAA tournament appearance, head coach Caroline McCombs was hired by George Washington University to fulfill the same position there. As a result, Dingle put her name in the transfer portal and took her talents to Fordham, leaving an opening for Gonzalez to fill. Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron hired head coach Ashley Langford — a former point guard with a skillset similar to Gonzalez’s — to replace McCombs.

Langford gave Gonzalez her vote of confidence and ultimately named her the starting point guard, finally giving her a true chance to prove herself.

“There’s a level of trust and a level of comfort that I have with her when the ball is in her hands and organizing the team,” Langford said in an interview with The Statesman. “Sometimes you can’t even describe it. She’s my point guard.”

Once Gonzalez got her shot as a junior in 2021-22, she broke out. Under Gonzalez’s guidance from the point guard spot, Stony Brook had the highest-scoring offense in the America East Conference (AE). She finished the season third in the AE in both assists per game (3.9) and assist to turnover ratio (1.6) while scoring 9.6 points per game. With Gonzalez at the helm, the Seawolves earned an at-large berth to the 2022 Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

Her breakout year was a long time coming.

“It was very different from my previous years, but I felt like I was ready for the moment,” Gonzalez said.

Though Gonzalez’s emotions got the best of her at times, she was able to make the leap from end-of-the-bench backup to frontline starter by working through them.

“There are days where you are not feeling good and feeling up to it,” Gonzalez said. “But you still have to get up and do what you want to do to be where you want to be.”

Gonzalez’s hard work allowed her ascent to continue upon switching conferences. Unfamiliar opponents did not slow her down, as she became one of the CAA’s best guards right away. During her senior season, she had the seven highest single-game scoring performances of her career. In her first career postseason start, she led the Seawolves to a thrilling comeback win with a team-best 17 points and four steals, while also collecting five rebounds.

Now, after making a strong impression on the CAA, Gonzalez has her team picked to finish second overall in the conference for the 2023-24 season. Her farewell tour with Stony Brook will tip off at Island Federal Arena on Monday, Nov. 6 against the Columbia Lions.