The No. 8 seeded Stony Brook women’s basketball team was in a familiar situation. Just as in the two regular season outings against the No. 1 seeded New Hampshire Wildcats, the game was neck and neck for three quarters.
To the dismay of Stony Brook, the result was also the same.
New Hampshire pulled away in the final moments of the fourth quarter to knock out the Seawolves by a final score of 58-49 at the Cross Insurance Center Saturday afternoon.
The Seawolves stayed within four points for a majority of the fourth quarter due to many missed shots and layups from both teams. Senior guard Kori Bayne-Walker and senior forward Elizabeth Manner made two driving layups for the first two Stony Brook baskets in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 46-42 with 3:50 left.
Senior guard Kristen Anderson sealed the game for the Wildcats after hitting her team’s first three-pointer of the game with 2:52 remaining. That shot put the Wildcats up seven and the Seawolves would get no closer than four points for the remainder of the game.
Stony Brook boasted three players in double figure scoring, with Manner leading the way for her team. She dropped a team high 14 points on seven-of-11 shooting, to couple three rebounds. Sophomore guard Davion Wingate put in 13 points and Bayne-Walker added 10 points of her own.
The Seawolves did a majority of their damage from mid-range and from inside the paint. Wingate was able to put up 12 first half points by driving to the paint, breaking the Wildcats’ 2-3 defensive zone, and capitalizing on easily layups at the rim.
It was at the defensive end where Stony Brook had trouble.
New Hampshire shot 50 percent from the field and netted 34 points in the paint. This season’s America East Player of the Year, junior center Carlie Pogue, who scored a game-high 23 points and pulled in six rebounds, was a major factor down low. She frequently caught the ball in the post and hit her defenders with pump fakes and post moves that culminated in easy looks close to the basket.
As they had all season, the Seawolves played the America East-leading Wildcats well despite sitting next to last in conference standings.
The first quarter ended with Stony Brook down one point. The two teams were tied at half and the Seawolves were down two points after the third quarter. In total, the game saw six lead changes and 11 ties until the start of the fourth, where New Hampshire held their lead until the final horn sounded and ended Stony Brook’s season.
With Stony Brook officially out of America East competition, they end their season with an overall record of 12-18.
