Following a strong fourth quarter effort, the Stony Brook women’s basketball team took down the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers on Tuesday, Nov. 5 by a score of 86-73.
The Seawolves (1-0) started the game strong, leading by 10 points at the end of the first quarter; this lead slowly shrunk and eventually disappeared during the second quarter, and Stony Brook eventually entered the half down by two points.
“I’m really proud of our group tonight. There were some momentum shifts throughout the game, but we really buckled when we needed to defensively in the second half,” Stony Brook head coach Caroline McCombs said in a press release. “I think we saw some of the competitiveness that our players have and that was fun to see. The road environment was awesome for our first game and we are excited to build upon this experience.”
Led by guard Kaela Hilaire, a graduate transfer from Seton Hall University, the Seawolves outscored the Terriers 35-21 in the fourth quarter, after entering the quarter down by one.
In the fourth quarter, Stony Brook went on a 12 to nothing run spanning three minutes. During that time, the Seawolves went from being up by two points to a 14-point lead.
Hilaire finished the night with 21 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals while going a perfect eight for eight from the free throw line in her Seawolves debut. Meanwhile, junior forward India Pagan had her first double-double of the season, scoring 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Hilaire and Pagan were not the only contributors on the night. The Seawolves bench outscored the Terriers bench, 31 to three.
Three players made their Seawolves debut during the game: Hilaire; freshman guard Gigi Gonzalez and junior guard Victoria Johnson, a transfer from Hinds Community College.
Johnson finished third on the team with 17 points scored, in which she made three of her six three-point shot attempts.
Stony Brook forced 17 Terrier turnovers, and converted those chances into 18 points, while also out rebounding the Terriers 43-27.
Next up for the Seawolves is the home opener at Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Friday, Nov. 8 against the Manhattan College Jaspers, with tip-off set for 6:31 p.m.
