The Stony Brook women’s basketball team has hit its stride. Winning eight of its last ten games has granted the Seawolves the third seed heading into the America East Playoffs.

Throughout the season, Christa Scognamiglio has found her place on the team by providing them with a significant deep threat shot and solid all-around play.

This was not always the case for Scognamiglio. She faced situations in which it was not easy to display her talents on the court. Beginning her college career at Fairfield, Scognamiglio felt she was not given the chance to make the impact she knew she could.

Eventually, things changed when she decided to change scenery and make a fresh start nearly two years ago, transferring out of Fairfield and coming to Stony Brook to be a Seawolf.

“It took a while to get here, but I just kept working hard and wanted to be on the court,” Scognamiglio said of her transition to Stony Brook.

Through it all, some of the most influential experiences came earlier in Scognamiglio’s career.

Basketball came into her life at a relatively early age. Introduced to the sport by her father, Scognamiglio was playing in a CYO basketball league by fourth grade. It was there that she encountered the first taste of defeat and the disappointment that comes with it.

“When I was little, my Dad got me into basketball, starting out playing for fun. Then, in 4th grade, we lost our first game of the year 34-4,” Scognamiglio recollected, “It was awful, I never wanted to lose like that again.”

The worst defeat she experienced shaped her motivation toward this goal, and it has been this same motivation that she has carried over to her journey in college.

Scognamiglio arrived at Stony Brook with the understanding that she would have to prove herself to gain playing time. She had to overcome the fact that no one on the team had seen her play first, though.

“I came into the season wanting to help and be a part of the team in any way I could,” Scognamiglio said, “I did everything I could to prove to the coaches and the team that I could play.”

She has proven that she belongs here and her playing time reflects that.

Scognamiglio is averaging 7.9 points a night on 42.4 percent shooting from the field this season.

However, despite her success throughout the season, Scognamiglio is not only thinking about her college basketball career.

At the end of the day she has a life outside of college and a family to keep in touch with. Back at home Scognamiglio has her younger sister who plays basketball in a CYO League.

Along with talking to her sister about basketball, she enjoys hearing about her sister’s life. After going through a similar process years before, she offers up her well-earned experiences and advice as much as she can.

“One of my sisters is nine and she’s playing CYO now. So I love talking to her about it and her life. It’s funny to listen to a nine year talk about her issues,” Scognamiglio said.

Keeping in touch with her family helps Scognamiglio extend herself academically at Stony Brook. With a major in business, she one day hopes to incorporate her passion for sports into a job. Knowing what field she would like to pursue, however, does not necessarily make the future much clearer. Like most college students, she finds herself in the awkward, yet common, “I’m not sure what I want to do in life,” phase.

“I definitely want to stay in sports. I don’t know if it will be in basketball, but it will be sports in business. Maybe sports management. Still thinking.” Scognamiglio said.

For now, the focus will be set on the current season. She is now nearing the end of her first full year as a Seawolf. In that year Scognamiglio has earned her spot as a starter on a team that will be looking for her presence in the coming years.

With playoffs coming up, she hopes to make an impact and help lead the team to a championship.

“In playoffs anyone can take anyone in a game so we have to keep our confidence up and keep playing as hard as we have been.” Scognamiglio said.

“We play Hartford Sunday, hopefully that will make it four wins in a row heading into the playoffs. I think that puts us in a really good position.”

Whatever the result may be for the Seawolves this year in the playoffs, Scognamiglio will continue to push herself and drive to be the best.