Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

Moon Township, Pa. - Stony Brook University's women's basketball team fell to Robert Morris, 61-43, on Saturday night at the Sewall Center. Junior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) led the Seawolves offense with 15 points and senior Crystal Rushin (Valley Stream, N.Y.) added nine points and seven rebounds off the bench. Monica Jones and Bianca Hooten each scored a team-high 14 for the Colonials. With the loss, Stony Brook drops to 0-3 on the season while Robert Morris improves to 2-1.

"We did a great job defensively and on the boards," said head coach Michele Cherry. "We kept them off the offensive boards, which was one of our main focuses coming into the game. Unfortunately, we just aren't making shots right now and that's something we need to fix."

Stony Brook struggled out of the gate, missing on five of its first eight field goal attempts. While the Seawolves' defense kept them within striking distance early on, RMU used a 12-4 run to open up a 12-point lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half. SBU would buckle down defensively, though, keeping the Colonials to just six points over the next eight minutes, including a four-minute scoreless streak.

However, Robert Morris' hot shooting would pick up down the stretch as it rattled off 13 points in the final four minutes of the half, including back-to-back threes by Monica Jones. Jeter had a solid half for the Seawolves, accounting for four of the team's final eight points of the half.

Jeter had some assistance in chipping away at the Colonials lead from junior Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) at the start of the second half, as the duo combined to score the Seawolves first ten points. Stony Brook did a much better job of controlling the ball at the start of the half, committing just five turnovers compared to ten in the opening half. Defensively, the Seawolves utilized a full-court press to rattle RMU and record five steals.

While the Seawolves did shoot a season-high 83% from the charity stripe, including 15 free throws in the second half, they could not overcome the three-point shooting of Robert Morris. The Colonials made three of their five attempts from beyond the arc and shot 46% for the game.

Jeter, who was named the America East Player of the Game, grabbed six rebounds, four on the offensive end, in 33 minutes of play.