This season, Maine forward Sheraton Jones has a .600 shooting percentage from the line. If you account for her entire collegiate career, that number falls to .419, rendering her the ideal candidate for Stony Brook Women’s Basketball to find at the charity stripe while down by one point with 25 seconds left in the contest.
Jones sunk the first attempt and Maine led 67-65. A two-pointer would tie; a three would win the game for Stony Brook.
To the Seawolves’ delight, Jones’ second attempt bounced off the rim and was promptly gobbled by sophomore guard Davion Wingate. A quick timeout advanced the ball up-court. Maine responded with a timeout of their own in order to set a sound defense.
But that defense proved fruitless; senior guard Christa Scognamiglio tied the game at 67 with a timely layup, while the clock ticked down to seven. Maine failed to score at the other end and Wingate once again snagged the rebound: overtime awaited.
Despite late-game heroics, Stony Brook would ultimately fall to Maine in that overtime, 78-71, as the Bears rectified Jones’ miss by sinking seven of their eight overtime free throw attempts.
Other than two blowout wins against a UMass Lowell team that has yet to win a conference game, Stony Brook’s only other America East win came at home against Maine, who now sits fourth in the conference.
The contest remained close throughout, with Maine holding a slight lead – one that peaked at 12 points in the second quarter – for all but three and a half minutes of the game.
The Seawolves shot poorly from the field, 34.4 percent, but well from beyond the arc, 44.4 percent. The converse was true for the Bears, who notched 49.2 and 31.3 clips, respectively.
After the two teams traded layup misses to commence overtime play, freshman guard Giolibeth Perez came into the game for senior guard Kori Bayne-Walker after the senior committed her fifth foul of the afternoon. Maine responded with two made free throws, establishing a 69-67 score.
Despite a Wingate offensive rebound off a missed three-point attempt, Stony Brook failed to capitalize on a second-chance opportunity and Wingate soon committed a foul of her own. Two made free-throws later and Maine boasted a four-point cushion.
For the remaining 2:46 left in overtime, the Bears held the Seawolves to four points and tacked on another seven of their own, culminating in a 78-71 victory for the women in blue.
With a mere three bench players allotted a combined 43 minutes of playing time, the Seawolves relied heavily on their starters, who accounted for 63 of the team’s 71 points.
Bayne-Walker led all scorers with 25 points, going 8-17 from the field, 1-2 from three and 8-10 from the line.
Wingate had 19 points of her own on the heels of three three-pointers to couple five rebounds, including her overtime-solidifying board.
Junior guard Aaliyah Worley led her team with nine rebounds.
With the loss, Stony Brook fell to eighth of nine in the America East, sporting a 3-9 conference record to couple a 10-15 overall record.
Stony Brook will attempt to bolster their conference record — now 3-9 — before the America East Tournament. On Wednesday, the Seawolves will host the sixth-placed Hartford Hawks at noon. The Seawolves fell to the Hawks 52-65 earlier in the season in Connecticut.
