The Stony Brook women’s basketball team dropped to 1-5 on the season with a 55-33 loss to the Sacred Heart University Pioneers on Wednesday, the team’s second loss in a row and Sacred Heart’s fifth win in six games.

“We competed hard but just didn’t execute they way we need to on the offensive end of the court,” Stony Brook head coach Beth O’Boyle stated after the game. “But we’ll come out and practice hard tomorrow and get ready for a good Rider team next Tuesday.”

The game boded ill for Stony Brook from the beginning as Sacred Heart made five of its first seven shots and took a 16-4 lead six minutes in.

However, the Seawolves then stepped up their defensive game, preventing the Pioneers from scoring a basket for five and a half minutes.

Yet the offensive production remained dormant, and Stony Brook still remained behind Sacred Heart by 13 points with nine minutes left in the half.

Junior Gerda Gatling, who tied career-high with 10 points for the day, scored six points over the ensuing two minutes as her team refused to let Sacred Heart out of its sights. Each team exchanged baskets for the next five minutes.

But Sacred Heart would have the final say in the half, scoring five points and solidifying a 32-15 point lead. The Pioneers scored 10 points off of nine Seawolves’ turnovers as they shot 46.4 percent during the first 20 minutes.

Sacred Heart opened up the second half with a quick basket, but Gatling quickly responded with a long jumper.

Despite Stony Brook’s efforts, the Pioneers would go on to score eight of the next 10 points, putting them ahead 21 points, a 40-19 advantage, with a little more than 14 minutes left in the game.

The Pioneers would extend their lead to as many as 25 points, and the Seawolves wouldn’t get within 19 points of their opponent.

Also coming up strong for Stony Brook was junior Jessica Previlon, who scored five points and took down nine rebounds.

Stony Brook will play its next game on Tuesday at Rider University at 7 p.m., its seventh game of the season.