Graduate guard Kaela Hilaire burning opposing teams as a scoring threat, graduate forward Cheyenne Clark dominating on the boards and the Stony Brook women’s basketball team winning: these are the standards the Seawolves have set every time they hit the hardwood. On Saturday, Jan. 16 at SEFCU Arena against the Albany Great Danes, they continued those trends with a 73-53 win, the Seawolves’ 15th straight.
Stony Brook (18-1, 6-0) set the tone early on against their rivals with a commanding 10-0 lead just three minutes into the first quarter, a lead the Seawolves did not relinquish for the rest of the matchup. Albany (6-12, 2-3) would bounce back down the stretch of the first half but still ended the first half down 35-26.
The second half would see the Great Danes come as close as within six midway through the third quarter, but it did not last. The Seawolves went on a 25-5 run directly after, bringing their lead to 26 and effectively ending the game midway through the fourth quarter. The Great Danes ended the game on a 17-9 run, but it was not nearly enough. The Seawolves walked away with the 20-point victory.
Clark amassed 12 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and four steals in 31 minutes on the court for yet another double-double on the season.
“We were just focused on playing 40 minutes of Stony Brook basketball,” Clark said in a press release. “Just focusing on the little things on the defensive end. Albany is always a tough opponent so it was huge for us to get this win on the road.”
Stony Brook head coach Caroline McCombs offered her compliments of the stellar rebounder after the victory as well.
“Cheyenne Clark was relentless on the glass today and that was a huge part of it,” McCombs said. “We were able to defend and get second opportunities as well on the offensive end.”
Five different players recorded double digits in the points column in an excellent exhibition of sharing the ball around the court. Pagan actually was not one of those players, with only eight points, a little over five points under her scoring average of 13.5 points per game. Junior forward McKenzie Bushee also put up season highs in minutes, points, rebounds and assists.
The Seawolves will hit the court again against the Binghamton Bearcats on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Binghamton University Events Center in Vestal, New York. Stony Brook is 23-24 all-time against Binghamton and won 68-53 in their last matchup on Feb. 6, 2019.
