The wins just keep on coming for the Stony Brook women’s basketball team. The Seawolves (22-1, 10-0) steamrolled the UMass Lowell River Hawks (12-11, 8-2) by a final score of 89-69 on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, coming out on top for the 19th time in a row.
The Seawolves charged out of the gate offensively, scoring 46 points in just the first two quarters of play — a season high for one half — highlighted by a 16-point lead at halftime. With the second half being about preserving the lead, the team kept the effort up to put the River Hawks away by dropping 43 more points.
Graduate guard Kaela Hilaire was in control of the game all night, putting up an impressive 22 points along with four rebounds and six assists. Junior guard Victoria Johnson put up 12 of her 15 points in the second half to help keep the lead late, junior forward India Pagan and graduate forward Cheyenne Clark had 12 and 11 points respectively, while junior forward McKenzie Bushee grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with eight points.
“It’s always tough to win on the road,” Hilaire said in a press release. “We came out playing hard and running the floor in transition, which got my teammates open shots and eventually opens it up for everyone to score, including me.”
With only six games left in their regular season, the Seawolves’ 19-game winning streak ranks second in the nation behind No. 11 Gonzaga, who have won 20 in a row. Stony Brook has also received votes in the AP Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history, continuing to showcase their talent in this record-shattering season.
Head coach Caroline McCombs saw this game as just a continuation of the team’s ability to win. “I thought we played with pretty good energy today,” McCombs said. “We came out pretty sharp, ready to go. UMass Lowell made some runs, but I thought we were able to withstand those.”
The Seawolves return to Island Federal Arena on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m to face the New Hampshire Wildcats (7-14, 4-5). The last matchup between these two teams gave Stony Brook one of the biggest scares of the season so far, with New Hampshire taking them to overtime in Durham before Stony Brook pulled away for the 53-44 win.
