Jan. 16, 2012

Final Stats

Durham, N.H. - Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) scored a season-high 17 points and the Stony Brook University women's basketball team cut an 15-point first half deficit to one in the second half but the New Hampshire Wildcats held on late for a 63-53 victory over the Seawolves on Monday night at Lundhold Gymnasium.

"I'm really happy with how we battled back after falling behind early," Stony Brook head coach Beth O'Boyle said. "But New Hampshire just made a few more plays than we did down the stretch."

Stony Brook (4-15, 1-5 AE) had cut an 11-point halftime deficit to one on a jumper from freshman Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore.) with 13 minutes left in the game but the Wildcats went on a 11-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 55-46 advantage.

Junior Dani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) knocked down her second three of the game with five minutes left to cut the UNH lead to six but that is as close as SBU got as UNH went 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

Davis also grabbed five rebounds for the Seawolves, who shot 44 percent from the field. Junior Taylor Burner (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) added a career-high 12 points and junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.

Denise Beliveau led three Wildcats in double-figures with 19 points. Stony Brook won the battle of the boards, 33-26.

The Seawolves jumped to an early 11-9 lead, hitting five of their first eight shots including a three from Davis and a short jump hook from Burner. UNH responded with a 14-2 run though to go ahead 22-13 midway through the first half.

Davis scored six of Stony Brook's next eight points to cut the deficit the Stony Brook deficit to 25-21 but Cari Reed then hit back-to-back threes to spark an 11-0 UNH run that gave the Wildcats a 36-21 lead with just less than three minutes left until halftime.

Burner hit two free throws to halt the run and Krueger then scored off a feed from senior Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) with under a minute remaining as SBU went into the break trailing 36-25.

The Seawolves opened the second half with eight straight points, four from Davis, to trim the UNH lead to four.

The Wildcats answered with two straight hoops but threes from Davis and Klupenger and a put-back from Previlon brought SBU within 42-41 just over six minutes into the period.

The Seawolves return to action on Saturday, hosting Maine at Pritchard Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. For ticket information go to GoSeawolves.org/tickets or call 631-632-WOLF.