The Stony Brook women’s basketball team’s win streak was snapped at 10 games after an 80-48 blowout loss to Toledo on Tuesday, Dec. 18. This is Stony Brook’s first loss since Nov. 9 against Rutgers.
The Seawolves began unraveling in the third quarter and could not steer the ship to strike a comeback. Senior guard Jerell Matthews and freshman guard Anastasia Warren were both out, nursing injuries.
After Stony Brook’s early 12-4 run, not much went right for them.
“I thought we threw the first punch tonight against Toledo,” head coach Caroline McCombs said in a press release. “And they came right back at us and never let up.”
The team trailed 29-27 at halftime after struggling to create good offensive positions against Toledo’s stingy defense. Stony Brook finished the half with eight turnovers and failed to ignite an offensive rhythm.
The second half saw the Rockets open with a 17-point run in the third quarter. With all the momentum on the Rockets’ side, the Seawolves struggled to catch up. Toledo finished with a better shooting percentage (57.9), more rebounds (32) and more points in the paint (56). They also finished off with an unrelenting 80 percent shooting percentage in the fourth quarter.
“We allowed their defensive pressure to bother us and we couldn’t get into our stuff,” McCombs said. “Defensively I was disappointed in our overall effort which must improve for us to compete at the level we want to.”
Despite the loss, four Seawolves finished with double-digit points including senior guard Shania Johnson, sophomore forward India Pagan, redshirt-sophomore forward Oksana Gouchie-Provencher and sophomore guard Chantz Cherry.
Johnson’s performance was not indicative of her season. She scored 10 points with only one assist, her lowest assist total on the season. Pagan also scored 10 points while reeling in five rebounds. Gouchie-Provencher scored a team-high 13 points, with five rebounds, four blocks, three assists and a steal. With Matthews and Warren out, Cherry got increased minutes and was able to record career highs by scoring 11 points and four assists.
This was the first-ever meeting between these two programs. Coming into the game, Stony Brook’s 10 wins were tied for the second-most in the nation, only behind NC State and Louisville. The team will get a short break before they return to action on Sunday, Dec. 30, hosting St. Francis Brooklyn at 2 p.m. at the Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
