Stony Brook women’s basketball team went into the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Wednesday night, Nov. 13, looking for their third straight victory to open the season. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Seawolves had cruised to an 81-38 victory over Hofstra University Pride.
Stony Brook’s victory marked the third year in a row in which they defeated the Pride by at least 20 points.
“I thought we really competed on both ends of the floor tonight. Our balanced attack on offense was great to see and I believe our chemistry on the court will continue to improve,” Stony Brook head coach Caroline McCombs said in a press release. “This game is always a competitive one with our rival Hofstra and our team came out hungry and ready to defend the Island.”
Graduate transfer guard Kaela Hilaire led the Seawolves in scoring, finishing the night with 16 points, hitting six of her nine shots — including going a perfect four for four from behind the three-point line — and nine assists. But Hilaire did not do it alone; of the 13 Stony Brook players who stepped onto the court, 11 of them managed to score at least two points during the game.
After allowing the Pride to score the first four points of the game, Stony Brook went on a 20-6 run to close out the quarter. During the first-quarter run, seven different Seawolves scored their first points of the game.
At the half, Stony Brook led 35-23. But that would quickly change in the third quarter. Following a Hofstra-made three-point shot with 5:36 left in the third, the Seawolves defense did not let up another point for the rest of the quarter, ending the third on a 14-0 run.
With the lead already at 31 points at the start of the quarter, the Seawolves decided not to let up and continued their torrid scoring. Aside from Hillaire, two other Stony Brook players cracked double digits in points on the night.
Junior guard Victoria Johnson chipped in 12 points, six of which came via free-throws, while graduate forward Cheyenne Clark had her second straight game scoring 10 points. Clark tied junior forward McKenzie Bushee for the team-high on the night, with six rebounds, while also picking up two steals.
The Seawolves defense proved to be a real menace for the Pride all night long. Bushee and redshirt-junior forward Oksana Gouchie-Provencher both had three blocks on the night, while the rest of the team combined for another three blocks. Stony Brook as a team tallied 11 steals. From the Pride turnovers, the Seawolves were able to score 22 points.
Next up is a road trip to Arkansas to face the No. 23 nationally ranked University of Arkansas Razorbacks. The game is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17 with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
