Feb. 23, 2010

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University's women's basketball team fell to Vermont, 64-49, on Tuesday night in Pritchard Gymnasium. The Seawolves led by as many as seven in the first half, but an 18-0 run by the Catamounts at the beginning of the second put Stony Brook in a hole it could not climb out of. Sophomore Destiny Jacobs (Glen Burnie, Md.), who was named the America East Player of the Game for Stony Brook, led the Seawolves with 14 points and five rebounds. With the loss, Stony Brook drops to 8-19 (6-9 America East) while Vermont improves to 23-5 (13-2 America East) and locks up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming America East Championship.

"Vermont picked up its intensity on defense at the start of the second half and we went into panic mode," said head coach Michele Cherry. "Their pressure caused turnovers which resulted in easy baskets for them. We did a great job of fighting our way back into the game, but we spent so much energy clawing our way back that we ran out of gas at the end."

Stony Brook had a slow start to the game offensively, connecting on just one of its first four field goal attempts. However, the Seawolves made three straight baskets in just over a minute to take an 11-8 lead at the 14:04 mark. SBU held Vermont without a field goal for over four minutes before back-to-back layups put the Catamounts back on top 13-11.

SBU would counter with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a block from freshman Gerda Gatling (Woodbury, Va.) on a transition layup for Vermont. Stony Brook's seven point lead at the 8:39 mark would be its largest of the game.

After committing just five turnovers during the first 12 minutes of play, the Seawolves would turn it over seven times in the final eight minutes of the first half as Vermont turned a seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. Eight of the Catamounts final 13 points of the half came off Stony Brook turnovers.

A jumper from Jacobs at the 18:40 mark of the second half knotted the score at 30-30. Vermont would then score 18 unanswered points, including eight from May Kotsopoulos, to move in front 48-30 with 12:58 remaining.

After scoring three points in the previous 30:03 of play, junior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) poured in nine of her 11 total points over a six minute period to help Stony Brook knock Vermont's lead down to single digits. Jeter connected on a three from the wing with 3:03 remaining to put the score at 56-47. However, the Catamounts would go 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch as they held off the rally for the win.

Stony Brook will host its final regular season home game against UMBC on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Prior to the game, Stony Brook's Department of Athletics will honor this year's senior class of Joia Daniels (Silver Spring, Md.) and Crystal Rushin (Valley Stream, N.Y.). The game is also Stony Brook's annual WBCA Pink Zone game. Tickets are available online at www.goseawolves.org or by phone at 631-632-WOLF.