Dec. 1, 2000
Stony Brook, NY -- -
TONIGHT'S OPPONENT: Most recently, the Aggies fell at North Carolina, 101-33 after falling behind, 63-6 at the half. On November 21, NC A&T lost a tough one to Gardner-Webb, 67-65. The Aggies are led by the outstanding inside play of Malveata Johnson, who put up 22 points and nine rebounds against North Carolina and 29 points and 17 rebounds against Gardner-Webb. The Aggies play seven of their first eight on the road to start the season.
THE REST OF THE FIELD: The Ragin' Cajuns are off to a 3-1 start, having beaten Texas El-Paso, Sam Houston State and Southern Illinois. ULL fell to Baylor in their last outing.
The Cajuns are averaging 71.5 points per game, tops among the teams in the tournament field. Three players are scoring in double figures, led by Billie Popovska's 13.3 ppg. Charlotte Green is scoring at an 11.8 points per game clip and Breanna Evans is averaging 10.3 points. Popovska leads all rebounders with 4.0 per game.
South Carolina State is well on its way to improving upon its 5-23 mark from a year ago. The Lady Bulldogs opened the season with victories over Morris Brown and High Point. Junior guard Tasha Stinson is averaging 22.5 points per game. Joselyn Thomas has raked in 17 rebounds in the two games for an 8.5 average. Against High Point, Stinson scored 25 points and added seven rebounds.
INJURY UPDATE: Three Seawolves will be shelved for the season opener. Sarah Burkett has been bothered by mono for the past two weeks and will be out for at least three more. Freshman Danielle Moseley will sit due to an injured back. Jamie Ferguson injured her left knee in practice on Monday - a ligament sprain - and will not dress tonight.
DeGIORGIO RETURNS: Freshman forward Danielle DeGiorgio will return after sitting out the first four games with an injured shoulder. The Smithtown, NY native will see her first action as a collegian tonight off the bench.
THE SERIES: Stony Brook has never met North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State or Louisiana-Lafayette.
HOT STARTS: Stony Brook's 3-1 start is the best start since it began the 1997-98 season 4-0. In their first Division I season, the Seawolves were 1-3 after four games.
FOUR ON THE FLOOR: LoParrino, Jordan, Triggs and Cox have been instrumental in the Seawolves opening success. Jordan, Triggs and LoParrino are 1,2,3 in scoring on the team while Cox has progressed a bit faster than expected. The four have played valuable minutes together on the floor already this season.
51 IN THE RPI: Stony Brook's current RPI ranking is at 51 with a strength of schedule rating of 51 according to CollegeRPI.com. It is the highest rating the Seawolves have received in their two seasons of Division I basketball.
AGAINST THE MEAC: The Seawolves are 3-2 against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schools under Coach Roberts during the past two seasons. Stony Brook beat Delaware State earlier this season and will face NC A&T and possibly South Carolina State - both MEAC schools. A meeting against Morgan State later this season awaits.
TOURNAMENT TRIUMPHS: The Seawolves continued their string of outstanding performances in tournaments in Los Angeles. The Seawolves posted a 1-1 mark and improved to 6-2 under Coach Roberts in regular season tournament competition. They have won at least one game in the four tournaments under Roberts and hope to continue that trend this weekend.
SNAPPING THE SLUMP: Junior Kelli Cofield snapped out of her season-opening slump on Saturday that saw her score just three points, collect six rebounds and foul out twice. Against Riverside, Cofield recorded her third career double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. On Wednesday against Army, Cofield had 11 points and secured five rebounds.
SEAWOLVES TAKE SECOND AT LMU: Stony Brook split its pair of games at the Loyola-Marymount Tournament in Los Angeles, CA over the weekend, falling to the host, 69-54, in the opener. The Seawolves closed the tournament out with a 73-58 win over UC-Riverside. Sherry Jordan led the Seawolves on both nights, recording her second double-double of the season against LMU with 21 points and 10 rebounds and came back for 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win over Riverside. She was selected to the six-member All-Tournament team.
READY FOR HOLLYWOOD: Sherry Jordan had quite the coming out party in Los Angeles, CA over the weekend. The freshman from Clarkston, GA collected 21 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola-Marymount on Friday. Against UC-Riverside on Saturday, she proved she could do it all, collecting 32 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. The 32 points tied for the fourth highest single-game total in school history. Jordan leads the Seawolves in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
`BOARDFIELD' EARNS NICKNAME: With her 14th rebound against UC-Riverside, Kelli Cofield eclipsed the 300 rebound mark. She now needs 112 rebounds to crack the program's top 15.
AGAINST THE PATRIOTS: Stony Brook recorded a 5-1 record against teams from the Patriot League last season defeating Navy twice, Army, Bucknell and Colgate while falling to Lehigh.
FRESHMEN LOGGING TIME: New faces have been abound for the Seawolves - especially on the trip to California. Of the 200 minutes logged against LMU, 96 were logged by freshmen Jordan, Maggie Triggs, Theresa LoParrino and Tamika Cox. It was the same against Riverside as the four combined for 92 minutes.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE: The Seawolves have held opponents to 54 points per game thus far and have forced them into 72 turnovers. More impressively, opponents have been held to 35% shooting and have hit just 3-of-25 three-point field goal attempts.
TRIGG-ER STARTS IT WITH A BANG: Freshman guard Maggie Triggs had a solid debut in her first career collegiate start against Riverside. Triggs scored eight points, had three rebounds and three assists. Maggie is second on the team in scoring with 10 points per game.
TAMIKA ON THE BLOCK: Freshman Tamika Cox had nice showing against Riverside, coming off the bench. The team's tallest player at 6'4", Cox had her first collegiate bucket as time expired in the first half that gave the Seawolves a four-point advantage. She also had a rebound and a pair of blocks in seven minutes. On Wednesday against Army she had a career-high eight rebounds.
TRIGG-ER OFF THE BENCH: After a sub-par start to Tuesday night's opener against Delaware State, Coach Trish Roberts sent Maggie Triggs into the game. The freshman responded nicely, collecting nine points. More importantly, the Essex, VT native helped the Seawolves start a 16-4 run midway through the second half with four steals that led to six critical points.
OH SHERRY: That's what many are already saying after watching the freshman in the preseason. Jordan played all 40 minutes Tuesday night in the team's 50-37 victory over Delaware State. Jordan collected 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pack - both team-highs.
BY GEORGE, SHE'S GOT IT: Junior center Jill George has been named the team captain for the 2000-2001 season. George, who had an outstanding off season, delivered 10 points and five rebounds Tuesday night and also had four blocked shots - a career-high.
GOING BACK TO CALI: This marks the third time in eight years that Stony Brook will be heading to California for a tournament. The Seawolves last travelled to Pomona in 1996-97 to open the season, lost to Cal-Lutheran in the first round, but defeated Cal-Baptist in the consolation. In 1992-93, Stony Brook lost to Wartburg and Augustana before beating Amherst at the UC-San Diego Tournament.
THE SHIP IS BACK IN: Erika Shipley's sophomore season was one she doesn't want to remember. In the opening game against Delaware State, she was quick to atone for it, getting the starting nod by Coach Roberts. Shipley delivered with four points, a career-high seven rebounds and two blocks. -
PACK AN INDEPENDENT AGAIN: The Seawolves will once again be one of six independent schools that will outline Division I basketball. Albany, Belmont, Centenary, Texas Pan American and Texas A&M Corpus Christi are the other five. Binghamton - on the Seawolves' schedule this season - will join the mix next season if they do not join a conference.
`SUPER SEVEN' DON SCARLET & GREY: Seven new players will wear the scarlet and grey this season, adding great depth and size to this year's roster. Sherry Jordan, Maggie Triggs and Danielle DeGiorgio should make significant contributions right away.
PACK 229 IN PRESEASON RPI: In the latest RPI, Stony Brook is ranked 229th while its strength of schedule ranks at 187. Delaware State is ranked at 156.
WHAT'S IN A NAME: Hopefully alot. Sherry Jordan joins the Seawolves as one of its top recruits. The funny thing is, her father's name is Michael. Although not related to the great Michael Jordan, the Seawolves are hoping somewhere in there some similar genes exist.
2000-2001 SCHEDULE FACTS: The Seawolves entertain 12 new opponents this season. Two tournaments highlight this year's schedule - a trip to California in November and one to Mississippi in December. The Seawolves were 7-6 against teams returning to the schedule this season that they played last season. Stony Brook has significantly beefed up its schedule with potential match-ups against top 25 teams Xavier and Mississippi State. The Seawolves also take on NCAA Tournament participant Dartmouth and 20-game winner Pennsylvania.
BACK-TO - BACK WINNERS: Stony Brook head coach Trish Roberts hopes to bring some consistency to the Seawolves this season. The Seawolves hope to string back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1995. Stony Brook won 18 games in 1993-94 and 13 in 1994-95. The most wins combined in back-to-back winning seasons is 39 when the Seawolves won 24 in 1986-87 and 15 in 1987-88.
BARLETT, ABRAHAM TO JOIN SEAWOLVES: Stephanie Barlett and Traci Abraham have signed letters of intent to play basketball for the Seawolves in 2001. Barlett - a 5'9" guard/forward from Lebanon, Penn. - led her team to its first Lebanon-Lancaster Section II championship in 20 years during the 1999-2000 season. She averaged 10.0 points per game last season as junior and also averaged seven rebounds and three assists. "Versatile, gritty, tough and smart," said head coach Trish Roberts about Barlett . "She will be a valuable, valuable addition to our program next season." Abraham stands at 6'2" and has averaged over 12 points and 10 rebounds during her high school career at Maria Regina High School and White Plains High School.
