The Stony Brook women’s basketball team (7-17, 5-7) defeated Maine (7-17, 3-9) yesterday 59-to-47, fueled by a solid effort from the bench and a career night from junior guard Cassie Klockgether (San Diego, CA.). The Seawolves have swept the season series against the Black Bears, who have now lost five games in a row.
“We’ve depended on everybody all year,” said Coach Michele Cherry. “Jeter commands a lot of attention.”
Cherry added that her leading scorer’s skills have drawn defenders to her, opening up the other players on the court.
One such player on Saturday was Klockgether, who scored 17 points, a career high and a game high for both teams. She also nailed five of her nine three-point shots.
“That was a huge boost,” said Coach Cherry, about Klockgether’s performance, which was made a little sweeter knowing how hard she has fought against constant injuries. Klockgether sat out most of last season with a bad knee.
Maine secured the ball at tip-off, giving the small contingency of fans who made the trek down to Long Island the first and one of the last things that they would celebrate that game.
After the Black Bears tied the score 1-1 with over 16 minutes left in the first half, they would not have a share of the lead for the rest of the game.
The game got off to a slow start, with both teams committing numerous turnovers.
Coming off 28 turnovers in their last game, the Black Bears turned the ball over 21 times in the first half.
However, the Black Bears would fight back. They would enter scoring sprees throughout the game, leaving the Seawolves fans to wonder if the momentum had shifted against them.
Meanwhile, Coach Cherry kept her team motivated.
“We just said that we’ve got to buckle down and get stops,” she said.
And get stops they did. The Seawolves would turn back Maine’s surges with scoring tears of their own.
Though they were outrebounded by game’s end, Stony Brook made more out of their opportunities, scoring 23 points off turnovers compared to the six scored by Maine.
The bench factor leaned in Stony Brook’s favor as well. While the Black Bears’ bench only scored three points, the Seawolves’ bench amassed 30 points by the final buzzer, over half of the team’s total points.
The Seawolves concluded the game with a 9-3 run, capping off a close game.
“We had some rough spots, but overall I think we played a pretty good game,” summed up Coach Cherry, after the game that moved her team to the fourth spot in the America East Conference.
The Seawolves head to Boston on Wednesday, taking on a Terrier team that routed them early in the conference season. Tip off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
