Stony Brook Women’s Basketball announced its complete schedule for the 2017-18 season on Monday, after previously announcing the team’s conference schedule. The schedule announcement included five previously unconfirmed non-conference matchups.
The Seawolves will begin the season on Nov. 11 against Manhattan at Island Federal Credit Union Arena. Eight of their 13 non-conference are on the road, including matchups with Hofstra (Nov. 14), Syracuse (Dec. 3) and Northwestern (Dec. 10).
On New Year’s Eve, Stony Brook will finish its non-conference schedule at Harvard before traveling to Maine on Jan. 3 for the team’s conference-opener. Five of the Seawolves next six games will be at home, but only three of the final nine games will be at IFCU Arena.
The 2017-18 season will be a defining one for Stony Brook head coach Caroline McCombs, who will be entering her fourth season. After two 17-win seasons, the Seawolves finished 12-18 in 2016-17 and lost several key players.
In the spring, then-sophomore guard and the team’s top-scorer Davion Wingate transferred out of the program and ended up at Florida Gulf Coast University. Kori Bayne-Walker, the program’s leader in career assists, graduated. The team’s leading rebounder last season, Christa Scognamiglio, also graduated.
Syracuse and America East rival Albany (Jan. 10 & Jan. 27) are the only two teams on Stony Brook’s schedule to play in the NCAA Tournament last spring. The Great Danes, a 16-seed, lost in the first round to one-seed and eventual Final Four team UConn. The Huskies then beat the eight-seed Syracuse in the second round.
America East conference opponent New Hampshire (Jan. 21 & Feb. 17) and Harvard (Dec. 31) played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament last spring.
The America East conference tournament will begin on Feb. 27 and feature all nine teams. The eighth and ninth seeds will compete in a play-in game that will qualify the winner for the quarterfinals and semifinals on March 3 and 4, respectively. The games, hosted in Portland, Maine, will decide the two championship contenders who play for the conference title on March 9 at the home site of the highest remaining seed.
Below is the complete schedule announced by Stony Brook on Monday.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Nov. 11 vs. Manhattan
Nov. 14 at Hofstra
Nov. 19 at Fairleigh Dickinson
Nov. 22 vs. Farmingdale State
Nov. 26 vs. Wagner
Dec. 1 at Cornell
Dec. 3 at Syracuse
Dec. 6 vs. Yale
Dec. 10 at Northwestern
Dec. 14 vs. Iona
Dec. 17 vs. Central Connecticut
Dec. 21 vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 31 vs. Harvard
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Jan. 3 at Maine
Jan. 6 vs. Hartford
Jan. 10 vs. Albany
Jan. 13 vs. Vermont
Jan. 18 at Binghamton
Jan. 21 vs. New Hampshire
Jan. 24 vs. UMass Lowell
Jan. 27 at Albany
Jan. 31 at UMBC
Feb. 3 at Hartford
Feb. 5 vs. Binghamton
Feb. 8 at UMass Lowell
Feb. 11 vs. Maine
Feb. 14 vs. UMBC
Feb. 17 at New Hampshire
Feb. 25 at Vermont
