After 262 days filled with uncertainty, the Stony Brook women’s basketball team played its first game since last season’s abrupt end. However, its home opener was crashed by the Fordham Rams, who beat the Seawolves by a final score of 62-58. 

The Seawolves had won their last 20 games at home, but they found themselves in a hole early. Punctuated by a second quarter where the Rams scored 22 points to their 11, the Seawolves were fighting an uphill battle on the scoreboard from the opening tip-off going into the second half.

Stony Brook eventually found themselves down by 18 in the third quarter, but they managed to fight back and start a comeback. Following a run in which the Seawolves outscored Fordham 17-2, the score gap was narrowed down to 50-49 late in the fourth quarter. However, Fordham’s early lead and a three pointer from Rams sophomore guard Sarah Karpell proved to be just enough to stave off the late-game heroics from the Seawolves and secure the victory.

For the Rams, sophomore guard Anna DeWolfe led the team in scoring with 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting, followed by junior forward Kaitlyn Downey’s 16 points and Karpell’s eight points.

While losing their first home court game since January 2019 was tough, the Seawolves got incredible production from a first time Stony Brook starter in junior point guard, Asiah Dingle. The leading scorer at Kent State last year transferred to Stony Brook over the summer, and immediately showed off with an impressive 22 points on an efficient 10-for-15 shooting while pulling down five rebounds. Right beside her was veteran Seawolves star senior forward India Pagan, who notched a 12 point and 10 rebound double-double to kick off the season. Combined with the heart and effort shown by the team in their late comeback attempt, the Seawolves show promise at the onset of the new season.

“We’ve been working all fall for this game,” Dingle said in a post game press release. “We just tried to put our all on the court and tried to get that ‘W’. It didn’t end the way we wanted to, but we’re excited to finally play together.”

Now with their first game under their belts, the Seawolves must quickly turn their attention to Sunday. The Syracuse Orange, currently the No. 23 ranked team in the country, come down to Island Federal Arena for a 2 p.m. showdown.