On an afternoon in which the Stony Brook women’s basketball team struggled on offense, sophomore guard Anastasia Warren shined. Behind her game-high 24 points, Stony Brook (16-1, 4-0) narrowly captured its 13th consecutive win against the New Hampshire Wildcats (4-12, 1-3) on Saturday, Jan. 11 in Lundholm Gymnasium.
Offense on both sides was ugly early on as both teams shot below 25% from the field and committed ten turnovers each in the first half. In the midst of it all, Warren stood out as the lone efficient player for Stony Brook.
“Annie was fantastic today,” head coach Caroline McCombs said in a press release. “She was really the difference. She made big plays down the stretch when we needed them. Her growth and development in our program has been awesome.”
Warren was 3-for-4 on field goals in the first half, including two key threes to keep the Seawolves only down two, 15-13, at halftime. Outside of Warren, Stony Brook shot 2-for-19 and made zero threes in the first half.
On the other side, New Hampshire junior guard Amanda Torres was 3-for-4 from the field, serving as her team’s leading and most efficient scorer in the first half. Both teams’ leading ladies continued to guide their offense after halftime.
The second half saw both teams’ offenses ignited, as the Seawolves scored double the points they scored in the first half with 31, while the Wildcats had almost twice as many with 29. Five lead changes took place in the second half in a game that was headed for an extra period.
Junior forward India Pagan got going on offense with eight points in the second half, and Warren put up another 14 points, including an important three to put the Seawolves up two with 1:29 remaining. A made jumper by the Wildcats freshman guard Héléna Delaruelle with 56 seconds remaining tied the game.
Stony Brook dominated overtime, shutting out New Hampshire and scoring nine points of their own, including five from Pagan, to bring an anti-climactic finish to an otherwise exciting game.
Warren finished with 24 points to lead all scorers, a career-high, while adding four rebounds and three steals. Pagan finished with 15 points, two rebounds, and one steal, the only other Stony Brook player to score in double digits.
Stony Brook remains undefeated in conference play with a 16-1 overall record, undoubtedly the leading contender in the America East.
“Coaches are going to prepare their teams as best as possible throughout league play, so we have to be ready,” McCombs said. “Some days you’re not going to have great shooting nights, so we will rely on our defense.”
The Seawolves look to add to their 13-game winning streak against the Hartford Hawks (0-16, 0-3) at Island Federal Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 6:31 p.m.
