Jan. 10, 2006

Game 13
Stony Brook (8-4, 1-0 America East)
vs. Binghamton (9-4, 2-0 America East)
January 11, 2006 • 7:00 p.m.
Events Center • Vestal, N.Y.

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Tonight's Matchup
Stony Brook (8-4, 1-0 America East) looks to stretch its winning streak to four games when the Seawolves visit in-state rival Binghamton (9-4, 2-0 America East). The Bearcats own a 12-5 all-time advantage and have won four straight in the series.

Scouting the Bearcats
Binghamton enters tonight's contest coming off a 75-60 victory over Cornell on Monday night, stretching the Bearcats winning streak to three games.

The Bearcats are led by Laine Kurpniece's 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while Rachel Laws is averaging 12.0 points and 6.3 boards per outing. Jen Blues (10.9 ppg) and Jen Haubrich (10.1 ppg) are also averaging double figures for Binghamton.

Last Time Out
Mykeema Ford netted a game-high 21 points, including the 1000th of her career, to lift Stony Brook to a 67-57 victory over Vermont in the Seawolves America East Conference opener on Saturday.

Ford, who's 21 points tied her season-high, added eight assists in the victory. She became the 11th women's basketball player in Stony Brook history and just the second in the program's Division I history to reach the 1000-point mark for her career.

Jessica Smith, who moved within 16 points of 1000 for her career, finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Dana Ferraro added with eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Kelly Watson netted 10 points off the bench.

Ford Turns It On
Since her disappointing performance vs. Brown back on December 4, Mykeema Ford has been outstanding, scoring in double-figures in each of the Seawovles seven games since the loss.

Ford, who failed to score vs. the Bears to mark just the second time in her career she has been held without a point, averaged 17.9 points from December 7 through January 7, including three 20 or more point games. Also during that span, the junior guard shot .471 (16-for-34) from three-point range while averaging 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

Ford Reaches 1000 Points, Smith Not Far Behind
On January 7, junior guard Mykeema Ford reached the 1000-point mark for her career, while forward Jessica Smith is not far behind, entering tonight's contest just 16 points short with 984 in her two-plus years as a Seawolf.

Assuming Smith joins Ford in reaching the plateau this season, it will mark the first time in program history two Stony Brook players accomplished the feat in the same season.

Double Your Pleasure
Stony Brook has come to rely on the duo of Jessica Smith and Mykeema Ford to score in double-figures, while Dana Ferraro has consistently provided the same effort on the boards.

Through 12 games this season, Smith has reached double-figures 10 times and Ford 12, while Ferraro has pulled down double-figures rebounds in 10 contests.

For their careers, Smith has scored in double-digits in 54-of-68 games and Ford in 52-of-66, while Ferraro has reached double-figures boards in 21-of-40 outings.

Seawolves Earn Highest RPI Ranking in Program History
Behind several strong wins to open the season, Stony Brook has earned a program-best RPI ranking of 28, which is currently tops in America East.

The Seawolves, who earned a previous program-best ranking of 38th earlier this season, topped 19th-ranked Temple while also earning impressive wins over defending Ivy League Champion Dartmouth and the Sunbelt Conference's Arkansas State so far this season.

America East boasts three teams with RPIs in the top 100 and, as a conference, ranks 13th in the nation in The Collegiate Basketball News Women's RPI Report. More importantly, AE is fourth among I-AA conferences with only the Colonial (eighth), Missouri Valley (11th) and A-10 (ninth) posting higher rankings among I-AA leagues.

Ferraro, Ford Among NCAA Leaders
Stony Brook's Dana Ferraro and Mykeema Ford rank among the NCAA Division I leaders in games played through January 2. Ferraro ranks 11th in the nation with 10.9 rebounds per game, while Ford stands 25th with 5.6 assists.

SB Trio Among League Leaders
Stony Brook's Dana Ferraro, Jessica Smith and Mykeema Ford rank tops among America East league leaders in three categories in games played through January 10. If the trio remains locked in those spots, it would mark the first time in America East history three different players from the same team led AE in the three major categories.

Smith leads the league with 16.8 points per contest while Ferraro is tops with 11.1 rebounds per game and Ford leads the conference with 5.75 assists per outing.

Back during the 1989-90 campaign, two players led in the three categories as Maine's Rachel Bouchard was tops in scoring and rebounding, while teammate Cathy Iaconeta ranked first in assists.

Paw Prints
With its win over Vermont on January 7, Stony Brook improved to 8-4 overall and 5-1 at home for the first time since 2001-02... that win also kept the Seawolves perfect in America East openers, as SB has gone 5-0 since joining the league that same year... SB has defeated both conference champions it has faced so far this year, knocking off A-10 champ Temple on December 7 before downing Ivy League champion Dartmouth on December 13... the Seawolves have faced three teams that have either been ranked or received votes in the national polls so far this season, going 1-2 in those games.

Milestones Approaching
Several Seawolves are approaching milestones at the start of the 2005-06 season.

Here is a look at a few of the milestones that could be reached this season:

Points
500 - Kelly Watson (477)
1000 - Jessica Smith (984)
Rebounds
200 - Mykeema Ford (189)
400 - Dana Ferraro (359)
600 - Jessica Smith (567)
Assists
100 - Jessica Smith (97)
300 - Mykeema Ford (245)