A season-best, first-quarter offensive explosion by the Stony Brook women’s basketball team helped the team notch its third-straight win.
On Monday night, the Seawolves (3-1) hosted the Marist Red Wolves (2-2) at Stony Brook Arena. Stony Brook wasted no time pouring it on, as its 27 points in the first quarter — the most the team has scored in a period since Feb. 4 against Monmouth last season — led it to a 69-49 victory.
The Seawolves started the game as good as one could ask for, swarming the Red Wolves defensively in the first period. On the other end, a pair of pull-up jumpers in traffic from guard Zaida Gonzalez and a three-point make from guard Breauna Ware sparked a 15-0 Stony Brook run.
Guard Janay Brantley and Gonzalez were the catalysts for the run, as Brantley’s multiple deflections allowed Gonzalez and others to dominate in transition. The lead ballooned to as much as 17 points after guard Chloe Oliver intercepted a pass from Marist forward Ciara Croker and went coast-to-coast, helping end the opening quarter up 27-15.
The game slowed down in the second quarter, as both sides failed to score in the opening two and a half minutes. A tough driving layup from Marist forward Brooke Jarvis broke the silence. Back-to-back, pull-up jumpers from Gonzalez and Oliver gave the Seawolves their biggest advantage to that point at 22 points. Stony Brook and Marist traded baskets for the remainder of the half, as the Seawolves went into the locker room up 40-19.
The story was much similar in the third period, as another make from beyond the arc from Ware pushed the lead to 46-21. While the Red Wolves cut into the lead with a 10-2 run, Stony Brook used a paint finish from Brantley and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Oliver to keep Marist at bay and go up 53-31.
Both sides held steady in the fourth quarter, as Marist could not conjure up another rally, leaving the Seawolves with a win in convincing fashion.
“That’s what we want it to be, the toughness and tangible between color, and that starts on the defensive end,” head coach Joy McCorvey said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “We don’t want it to be pretty. We didn’t want them to be able to execute their offense and we wanted to be disciplined and disruptive.”
The defense headlined the box score for Stony Brook, with six separate players logging a steal, including Brantley and Oliver with three each. The Seawolves won the battle of the boards as well, outrebounding the Red Wolves 44-36.
Offensively, Ware and Gonzalez stole the show, with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Ware scorched the nets all night long, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Gonzalez chipped in with an efficient night, going 9-for-16 from the field, along with eight rebounds and six assists. Brantley notched a balanced stat line with five points, five assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
“We’re just an energy team,” Ware said. “It’s contagious. If I get hot and they’re getting hot … it is really contagious and with us, that’s something we always harp on. Just spreading positivity, no matter if we hit adversity or not, we just pour positive vibes on each other.”
Stony Brook as a team had the hot hand, posting a .481/.364/.500 shooting split on the night.
The Seawolves will be back in action on Sunday against the St. John’s Red Storm, traveling to Queens, N.Y. The Red Storm are 4-0 after a convincing 60-45 rout of Rhode Island last Sunday. St. John’s will face Marist before hosting Stony Brook. Opening tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
