It was a women’s basketball game to remember—one that featured a nine-point fourth-quarter comeback and saw both teams force an extra overtime at the buzzer. In the end, St. Bonaventure took the victory, upending Stony Brook 73-68 in a double-overtime thriller. Senior forward Katie Healy scored 26 points for the Bonnies, including eight in the second overtime, as the two-time all-Atlantic 10 selectee was too much for the Seawolves to handle.
“We’ve been showing [resilience] all season,” Stony Brook head coach Caroline McCombs said after the loss, which dropped the Seawolves’ record to 3-3. “I like the way that when we have been down, we have been able to gather ourselves, pull together and fight back.”
The non-conference matchup featured memorable shots from both teams, as St. Bonaventure forced play to continue by draining a clutch basket at the end of regulation and Stony Brook returned the favor minutes later at the end of the first overtime.
With 5.7 seconds remaining in the second half, junior guard Kori Bayne-Walker buried a running floater, adding to a Seawolves 11-2 run that gave them a 54-51 lead. After a timeout was called by the visiting Bonnies, sophomore forward Miranda Drummond buried a three-pointer at the horn to tie the game force overtime, silencing the Island Credit Federal Union Arena crowd.
“We were caught staring at the ball,” McCombs said, “versus just denying our man and not letting them get up a three. As a result, we gave up a wide open three.”
Sophomore guard Mariah Ruff made a layup with 8.8 seconds to go in overtime for St. Bonaventure, giving the team a 62-61 lead. On the ensuing possession, Christa Scognamiglio turned the ball over for Stony Brook and the Seawolves fouled Healy, who made one of two free throws to put the Bonnies up by two with 6.1 seconds left.
Despite still having a timeout that could have been used to set up a front-court out-of-bounds play, McCombs opted to let her team play it out on the fly. That was when Bayne-Walker took the ball coast-to-coast to score a layup in traffic to tie the game and send the game to overtime again.
“That’s what I told them I wanted them to do. I wanted Kori to go down the length of the floor and get a layup,” McCombs said. “Compared with a sideline out-of-bounds play, I thought that running the full length of the court was, for us, actually a better option. Kori is very strong in transition and opponents don’t like to foul in the last five seconds. I knew she could do that, I’ve seen her do it a lot, and she was able to do it again tonight.”
In the second overtime, the Seawolves were unable to match up with Healy, as the Western New York native excelled in the post game, making several hook shots and layups in the extra frame.
Healy was matched up with Stony Brook senior forward Brittany Snow throughout the game. While the stat sheet indicated that Snow was not her usual self—she scored just 10 points and grabbed six rebounds, both below her season averages—she affected the game in ways that do not show up on a traditional box score.
Snow took three charges on defense in the second half, guarding Healy every trip down the floor. Twice in the game she was visibly injured, once in the first half when diving out of bounds to save a loose ball, scraping her leg, and once in the second half, when she tweaked her right shoulder while battling for position in the post. Snow never left the game, however, and was the only player on either team to play all 50 minutes in the match.
Freshman forward Ogechi Anyagaligbo had a strong game for the Seawolves, accumulating nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Anyagaligbo entered the game tied for second in America East in rebounds and her presence was felt on the floor for Stony Brook.
After the first-year starter subbed out late in the opening quarter, St. Bonaventure went on a 11-2 run to take a 19-11 lead with 7:54 remaining in the first half.
It was a woeful first half for both teams on offense, particularly for Stony Brook. Bayne-Walker had three of the six second-quarter turnovers for the Seawolves, as the Bonnies were quick on double teams throughout the first half.
Although the Seawolves struggled with the ball for much for the first 20 minutes, junior guard Scognamiglio knocked down a pair of three-point baskets late in the second quarter to spark a small Seawolves run and cut the halftime deficit to 24-21.
Scognamiglio scored 19 points in the game, leading all Stony Brook players.
The game’s offense picked up drastically in the third quarter, as both teams went on significant runs.
St. Bonaventure senior guard Nyla Rueter found the shooter’s stroke early in the second half, as she made three shots from beyond the arc as part of a 15-5 stretch in which the Bonnies expanded their lead to a game-high 11-point margin.
Stony Brook was quick to answer, going on a 7-0 run to cut the St. Bonaventure advantage to 39-35 entering the fourth quarter of the game. The Seawolves’ defense was stifling during this part of the game, as the Bonnies shot 0-for-5 from the floor with four turnovers, getting shut-out in the final 5:09 of the quarter.
After St. Bonaventure opened up a 45-36 lead in the fourth quarter, freshman guard Davion Wingate made her presence felt for the Stony Brook and shined when given the chance to play in late minutes. Wingate scored eight of her 10 points in the final quarter, as her play was one of the main reasons that the Seawolves were able to come back.
Looking to recover from the heartbreaker against St. Bonaventure, McCombs’ team will play a pair of matches in upstate New York over the weekend, as Stony Brook takes on Cornell on Friday night before facing No. 20 Syracuse on Sunday afternoon.
“That’s life,” McCombs said of the double-overtime loss. “You don’t have a choice. I’m mad we don’t play until Friday. I’d rather play tomorrow night and get this feeling from losing out of my stomach. We have practice tomorrow, just taking care of our bodies and preparing for Cornell. It’ll be a tough road trip for us.”
