With the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship on the horizon, the Stony Brook women’s basketball team secured a much-needed win to enter the playoffs with a slimmer of momentum.
On Saturday afternoon at Stony Brook Arena, the Seawolves (12-17, 7-11 CAA) — celebrating Senior Day — hosted the Drexel Dragons (16-12, 12-6 CAA), hoping to break out of their worst stretch of the 2024-25 campaign. A combination of efficient shooting and holding its opponents to abysmal three-point numbers allowed Stony Brook to do just that, posting a 66-59 victory over one of the best squads in the conference.
The game’s opening act was not an indication of things to come. Although the Seawolves shot 4-for-9 from the field in the first quarter, they were not in sync offensively, committing six turnovers; guard Shamarla King accounted for four of those.
On the other end, the Dragons overwhelmed Stony Brook early on. Due to securing five offensive rebounds and only giving the ball away twice in the opening 10 minutes, Drexel nearly doubled the hosts in shots attempted — posting 8-for-17 efficiency en route to a 19-11 lead after one.
After a rough defensive period, the Seawolves turned things around in a major way in the second frame. They held the Dragons to just five points in the quarter, holding the visitors to 2-for-8 shooting and zero second-chance opportunities this time around.
Stony Brook — led by its top scorer — also improved offensively. Guard Zaida Gonzalez scored seven of the team’s 16 second-period points. The Seawolves were particularly successful in the paint, putting up 12 points in that area — a feat which helped them gain a 27-24 halftime advantage.
“I think we just had to settle in,” head coach Joy McCorvey said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “They run a lot of stuff, so we had to get our legs under us, trust our passes, trust the cuts. Once we settled into their defense, it was a little bit of man and zone, so you didn’t really know what they were in, we executed and found each other. It really helped us flow the rest of the game.”
Unfortunately for the Seawolves, this contest’s inconsistency across frames continued into the second half. The third quarter kicked off with both sides failing to get stops. While Stony Brook scored on three of its first four possessions of the period, Drexel did so in the first two of its three approaches, culminating in a 33-28 Seawolves lead — their largest of the affair thus far — with 7:46 left in the frame.
Thereafter, the teams continued to trade baskets. While the Dragons found their success solely from the paint, Stony Brook was able to get shots to fall from beyond there. However, with the quarter dwindling, Drexel finally diversified its scoring. Down 42-36 with 19 seconds remaining, Drexel guard Amaris Baker bottomed a jumpshot. The Seawolves did not hold the ball for the last shot of the period on their ensuing possession, as guard Breauna Ware smoked a layup with seven ticks on the clock.
Ware’s mistake gave the Dragons one final shot in the frame, which was a three-pointer by Drexel guard Cara McCormack. She drilled it, and, in doing so, was responsible for her team’s only three of the day, as the Dragons shot just 1-for-17 from beyond the arc on Saturday.
Opening the final quarter, Drexel forward Deja Evans gave it the lead at 43-42 with a layup. She also accounted for nine of the Dragons’ first 11 points of the period. But, by the time her final bucket in that sequence arrived, Stony Brook had already pulled away.
The Seawolves — more specifically Ware, King and Gonzalez — were unconscious to kick off the fourth frame. The trio scored at will and from everywhere on the floor. Ware dominated the paint, King earned trips to the free throw line and Gonzalez had her shot working. The three combined to score all 24 of Stony Brook’s fourth-quarter points, leading it to a signature victory before the postseason’s arrival while also avenging last year’s title-game loss.
“It’s huge momentum,” McCorvey said. “We’ve talked all month about just being three possessions away from our February and the start of March being a little bit different. Except for one game, we’ve been under 10 in our losses. And really, it’s just a matter of us digging and getting a few more stops. And I thought we did that today. We held a really good team to under 60 points, which was a goal of ours. It’s great momentum going into the tournament.”
Excluding three-point range, the Seawolves had an excellent shooting day, posting a .489/.273/.792 shooting line with 14 turnovers. Conversely, Drexel registered a .436/.059/.714 triple slash alongside 15 giveaways.
Outside of Gonzalez (19 on 6-of-18 shooting), King (19 on 7-of-10 shooting) and Ware (18 on 4-for-11 shooting), Stony Brook had just 10 points among six players. However, it got contributions elsewhere, as forward Dallysshya Moreno led the team with six rebounds — securing the glass after a shaky first period. Guard Devyn Scott also dished out a team-leading four assists.
“Our coaches had a great game plan coming in,” King said. “Recognizing where the mismatches were, knowing when to cut in the zone. We had great ball movement, so credit to our team altogether. We took the ball inside and out, and it gave us a lot of opportunities around the basket.”
Evans was phenomenal for the Dragons, putting up 22 points to lead them on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. She also brought down eight boards, the most on Drexel.
The 2025 CAA Championship begins Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The Seawolves will await results from around the league to find out who they will play first.
Kevin Yu also contributed reporting.
