The Stony Brook Seawolves had to dig deep to come away with this narrow 73-65 victory over the Maine Black Bears.
After controlling the ball game for most of the first half – even going up by as much as 16 – the Seawolves gave way to a push by Maine to cut their deficit to just 6 at halftime. The Black Bears then made it a game, taking their first lead of the game about midway into the second half. Stony Brook responded however, thanks to some big late-game stops and scores.
“I think it was really just about communicating and working through it. We just have to keep pushing through it and keep playing smart because they might make a shot, but then we can make a play next possession” said Brittany Snow, who finished with 12 points on 3-5 shooting from the field.
The Seawolves were at another level of physicality in the first 17 minutes of the game than Maine, collecting nine of their 13 offensive rebounds in the contest during the first half.
Maine- underpowered in this matchup – was forced to foul and send Stony Brook’s women to the line. The Seawolves ended up having to take 32 free throws in the contest, but weren’t phased by the hard hits.
“We just wanted to go up strong, make a play and finish it” said Sabre Proctor. “I think we did great in the first and second half with that.”
Brittany Snow added, “We’ve been practicing a lot [of free throws] in practice, shooting a lot of them in practice actually.”
The early scoring burst came from Sabre Proctor who scored 17 of her career-high 26 in the first twenty minutes. Proctor was extremely aggressiveness throughout the game, putting up 23 shots and battling for post position on seemingly every trip down in the latter part of the game.
“We basically wanted to focus on our defense and maintain their shooters” said Proctor. “Every team goes on a run so we wanted to just stay under control. I think the whole team was mentally focused and we got it done.”
Her activity on the floor put her in some foul trouble, which forced head coach Beth O’Boyle to sub Proctor in-and-out in the final minutes.
Maine’s comeback was fueled by their backdoor cuts – which the Seawolves simply couldn’t defend for most of the contest – and their transition scores which would come easy because of 4-5 Stony Brook players standing underneath the basket for an offensive board.
“Maine has a great offense, they run a lot of motion and at times were pressuring the ball and trying to take away those backdoor cuts but I thought they played well too” said coach O’Boyle. “From the beginning we really wanted to hit the offensive glass hard and we were sending multiple players to the glass.”
With Maine taking the lead around the 11-minute mark of the second half, the Seawolves were in a nail-biter in which they eventually prevailed. A string of defensive stops and timely buckets gave Stony Brook the edge with about six and a half minutes remaining. The Seawolves then kept their distance at 4-7 points for the rest of the game.
“I think our defensive intensity really helped us. We started pressuring the ball and then we were getting tips and then it was making them rush their shots. I think that ignited our offense,” said coach O’Boyle of the team’s stand in the closing minutes.
Aiding in a huge defensive and offensive rebounding effort was the play of Jessica Ogunnorin, who collected 10 boards and blocked 2 shots, and Miranda Jenkins with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Point guards Chikilra Goodman and Kori Bayne-Walker provided steady hands, combining for just one turnover all game.
This win gives pushes the Seawolves to a 20-7 record (11-3 in AE), twenty wins being a division I program record. They remain at home for a Wednesday, February 26th bout against Vermont at 12:00 p.m.
