After not having a game scheduled for Friday night, the Stony Brook women’s basketball team wound up earning a whole bye week and a free conference victory.
On Saturday morning, the Northeastern Huskies (8-15, 4-10 CAA) decided to forfeit their upcoming game against the Seawolves (21-3, 12-2 CAA) due to a lack of healthy players. The game was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. on Sunday at Island Federal Arena but will now not be played nor made up.
Per NCAA guidelines, the forfeit will not count toward the overall win-loss records of either team. However, by Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) rules, a conference win will be awarded to Stony Brook and a conference loss will be handed to Northeastern. The win keeps the Seawolves atop the CAA’s standings.
Injuries have piled on for the Huskies all season and they have become insurmountable, as they could not dress a full team per NCAA guidelines. Notable players out for them include shooting guard Gemima Motema and power forwards Asha Parker and Jaelyn Batts.
Seven players took the court for Northeastern in its last game this past Sunday at Hofstra, but none of them left due to injury. The Huskies did not publicly confirm any new injured players that forced them to forfeit. It is unclear whether any new injuries were suffered in Sunday’s game or during practices in the following days.
Neither Stony Brook head coach Ashley Langford nor Northeastern head coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd spoke publicly about the cancellation.
The Seawolves will now get extra time to prepare for the Drexel Dragons, who they will play in Philadelphia next Friday. The Dragons are currently 11-13 overall and 6-7 in CAA play this year. They will play the University of North Carolina Wilmington tomorrow at 1 p.m. before their matchup with Stony Brook.
As for the Huskies, they will try to get healthy enough to face the second-place North Carolina A&T Aggies next Friday at 7 p.m. The Aggies are 16-8 this year and 10-3 in CAA play thus far and will face Elon tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. before taking on Northeastern.