The Stony Brook University Seawolves women’s basketball team won its first game of the season this Friday afternoon against the Troy Trojans, 77-60, in their first game in the Phoenix Classic.
“We’re very pleased to get that first win against a tough Troy team,” Stony Brook head coach Michele Cherry said after the game. “It was a collective effort, and Destiny had an outstanding game.”
Cherry was referring to junior Desntiny Jacobs (Glenne Burnie, Md.), who lead the team with 18 points, a career high for her. She scored 11 of these points in the second half and also secured five rebounds for her team.
There were other notable performances from senior Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) and sophomore Juanita Cochran (Saginaw, Mich.), who had 12 and 11 points respectively. Cochran also had a game-high eight rebounds. Stony Brook collectively forced Troy to turn the ball over 25 times.
The Seawolves’ strong play gave them a 12-9 advantage to begin the first half. Within the first nine minutes, Troy turned the ball over 10 times. Horsey and Jacobs each made two shots during this stretch, and the former recorded an assist as well.
However, the Trojans were stubborn. After Horsey made a three-point shot to make it 17-11, Troy realed off five unanswered points. Then Talisha Bridges (Kalamazoo, Mich.), scored two quick baskets to give her team a five-point advantage.
The Trojans never let them get away, however. After falling behind 26-21 with another jumper from Jacobs, Troy rallied to within one point again. However, it would be the Seawolves who would enter halftime with a one-point lead, 32-31, after senior Jodie Plikus (Waterford, Conn.) snatched a late three-pointer.
Troy turned the ball over 18 times in the first half. Though they would only do so seven times in the second half, that would be the least of their worries.
The Seawolves tore Troy apart at the beginning of the second half by scoring nine of the first 11 points. Plikus scored five of these and Jacobs, four. The Trojans would fight back again, but a three from sophomore Amanda Carona (North Hollywood, Ca.) and a two from senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) gave Stony Brook a nine-point lead. Jeter scored her 1,000th point last season.
The see-saw battle continue, and Troy rallied to within five with 11:30 remaining, but Cochran fired four straight points, and Jacobs added a bucket of her own to give Stony Brook their largest lead of the game, 11. With six and half minutes left, Jeter began a 7-0 onslaught with another jumper that would finally put the game out of reach. The run ended with Jacobs’ first career three-pointer.
The total 77 points was the largest for the Seawolves since they played UMBC in the 2008-2009 season.
“We’ve got a great transition game going and our rebounding was much better,” said Cherry. We’re going to need the same type of effort tomorrow against a good Fordham team.”
