Feb. 27, 2002
BACKDROP: Stony Brook, which has won two of its last three games, looks to improve its spot in the America East Conference standings with two regular-season games left to play. The Seawolves, who come off a 70-58 victory over Albany on Sunday, look to avenge a 61-50 home loss to the Bearcats in January.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS: Binghamton is on a two-game losing streak after losing to New Hampshire on Sunday, 62-49. Senior forward Sarah Cartmill scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season. In Binghamton's last three games, Cartmill has averaged 25.3 points per game. She leads the team with 18.1 points per game, which ranks second in the America East Conference. Cartmill's 19.9 points per game in league play leads the conference.
THE SERIES: Binghamton leads the all-time series 6-4 after the Bearcats' win earlier this season. Stony Brook's last victory came on Feb. 14, 2001, when SBU handed Binghamton a 64-57 setback.
LAST MEETING WITH THE BEARCATS: Binghamton broke open a four-point game with an 11-0 run at the beginning of the second half to hand Stony Brook a 61-50 loss at the SBU Sports Complex on Jan. 17. The loss marked the first for the Seawolves in America East competition, while the Bearcats won their third straight game and snapped Stony Brook's six-game winning streak. Binghamton used a 10-0 run in the first half to take a 25-19 lead with 4:33 to go before the break. The Seawolves shot just 36 percent in the first half while the Bearcats nailed 11-of-26 shots. Sarah Cartmill paced Binghamton with 11 points in the first 20 minutes, leading Binghamton to 29-25 lead at the break. Binghamton broke the game open with an 11-0 run to open the second half, extending the lead to 40-27 with 13:24 to go. The Seawolves got as close as seven points on a Jennifer Metz jumper at the 9:32 mark, but Stony Brook got no closer. Brooke Kelly's three-pointer gave the Bearcats their largest lead at 17 points with just under three minutes left. Stony Brook shot just 34 percent from the field for the game (16-of-46), and connected on just 14-of-22 free throws. Binghamton's inside game proved to be the difference, as Sarah Cartmill recorded game-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds, while Nicole Dypolt and Kate Townley each scored 12 points. The Seawolves were led by Sherry Jordan's 11 points while Erika Shipley chipped in with 10.
INJURY UPDATE: Stony Brook has battled injuries all season long, and the Seawolves got more bad news after last week's game against BU. Sophomore guard Theresa LoParrino went down in the second half with an injury that was later discovered to be a torn ACL. LoParrino, who is scheduled to have an MRI to discover the full extent of the injury, will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. Freshman Danyelle Ingram, who dislocated her shoulder on Nov. 30, will also miss the rest of the season as she recuperates from surgery. Sophomore Danielle Mosley also continues to undergo rehab from an ACL injury.
LAST TIME OUT: Stony Brook used a 14-0 spurt in the first half to take control and go on to a 70-58 victory over Albany at the SBU Sports Complex With the win, the Seawolves record their first-ever sweep of their instate rival. Meanwhile, the Great Danes suffered their 14th-straight setback. Albany pulled ahead 10-9 on two free throws by Sarah Sweetland with 11:23 remaining in the first period. However, the Seawolves responded with 14 unanswered points, stretching their lead to 23-10 at the 5:26 mark. Sherry Jordan, who finished with a game-high 23 points, had eight during the run. The Great Danes got back on track with a jumper by Danielle Hutcheson to end a six-minute drought. However, Stony Brook's 11 steals in the first half and Albany's cold shooting (6-of-21, 29 percent) kept the SBU lead in double digits at the break, 33-18. The Seawolves led by as many as 21 in the second stanza, as Danielle DeGiorgio's jumper made it 45-24 with 16:39 to go. The Great Danes could get no closer than 10 the rest of the way. The Stony Brook defense was the difference, as SBU forced 26 turnovers and finished the game with a season-high 16 steals.
SWEEPING THE DANES: Sunday's win marked the first time the Seawolves have swept a season series with their instate rival. However, that's not the only first that Stony Brook has earned against Albany this year. Stony Brook's road win against the Danes on Feb. 3 marked the first time the Seawolves have beaten Albany on its homecourt since the 1989-90 season, when both teams competed at the Division III level.
REBOUNDING SHOWCASE: Sunday's game featured the two best rebounders in the America East--Stony Brook's Jill George and Albany's Danielle Hutcheson. George, who leads the league with a 9.4 per game average, recorded nine rebounds, while Hutcheson, who averages 8.1 per contest for second place, hawled down 10.
STEALING AWAY: The Seawolves recorded 11 steals in the first half against Albany en route to a season-high 16 in the game. The Seawolves have registered 10 or more steals in their last three games and 11 games overall this season. Stony Brook has won nine of those games.
COUGHING IT UP: After committing a season-high 26 turnovers against the Terriers, the Seawolves turned the tables on Albany, forcing the Danes into 26 miscues. Meanwhile, Stony Brook turned it over just 16 times. The Seawolves are 12-3 this season when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.
DROUGHT'S END: The Seawolves scored 70 points for the first time in eight games against Albany. Before that game, Stony Brook had averaged just 53.9 points in its previous seven games, including a season-low 39 at New Hampshire.
DISHING IT OUT: In Sunday's game, the Seawolves also recorded their highest number of assists (15) in eight outings. The offense was led by senior Sarah Burkett, who dished the ball six times while committing no turnovers.
JORDAN LEADS THE WAY: Sophomore forward Sherry Jordan was instrumental in Sunday's win, scoring a game-high 23 points. Jordan scored eight of those points in a key 14-0 run in the first half that gave the Seawolves the lead for good. She narrowly missed recording her seventh double-double this season, grabbing nine rebounds. Jordan also added two assists and three steals.
E FOR EFFORT: Erika Shipley also had an outstanding outing against the Great Danes, scoring 16 points for her highest output in 12 games. The senior also had a career-high five steals and three assists.
NEARING A MILESTONE: Sophomore Sherry Jordan needs 106 points to reach 1,000 in her Stony Brook career. The Seawolves would need to win its America East Conference opener and play another game for Jordan to have a realistic shot at the 1,000-point club. If Stony Brook plays four more games, she would need to average 26.5 points per contest to reach the mark.
STREAKS: Stony Brook's wins and losses this season have seemed to come in bunches. SBU opened the season 1-4, but then the Seawolves won eight of their next nine games. Since then, SBU has gone 5-7, including five setbacks on the road.
MAKING A COMEBACK: The Seawolves battled back from a 10-point deficit at halftime in their win against Northeastern on Feb. 17. The Huskies led by as many as 14 in the first half and held a 34-24 lead at halftime. But the Seawolves outscored NU 44-24 in the second stanza, including a 17-2 spurt, for their 13th win on the season. The 14-point comeback is the Seawolves' biggest this season.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: The Seawolves' three-point loss against New Hampshire on Feb. 12 was the narrowest margin of defeat for Stony Brook this season. All of Stony Brook's other losses have been by eight points or more. On the other hand, the Seawolves have won all their games by at least seven points.
BY GEORGE SHE'S GOT IT: Senior Jill George swatted three shots against Maine to give her 100 career blocks, the all-time high in Stony Brook's women's basketball history. George bested the old record of 98, held by Erika Bascom who recorded that total from 1991-95. George, who leads the America East with 1.4 blocks per game, has 108 career blocks going into Thursday's game against Binghamton.
BURKETT STEPS UP: Senior Sarah Burkett has taken it up a notch after entering the starting lineup. The point guard has started 13 of the last 14 games, scoring a season-high 11 points on two of those occasions. She continued her solid play against Albany on Sunday with 10 points, the third time she has reached double figures since she entered the starting lineup. She also recorded six assists with no turnovers and was 2-of-5 from three-point range.
LOOKING AHEAD: After today's game, the Seawolves return home for the regular season finale against league-leading Vermont on March 2. The game marks the final home game for five Stony Brook seniors--Sarah Burkett, Jill George, Heather Metz, Jennifer Metz and Erika Shipley.
