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Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook women’s basketball turned in a season for the record books in 2013-14, winning 24 games and advancing to the America East Championship final and WNIT. Now, it’s a new era for the #Seawolves, who will open Island FCU Arena under their new head coach, Caroline McCombs.

SBU was picked second in the America East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, matching the 2006-07 team for the highest preseason slot in program history, and will return nine letterwinners and four starters in 2014-15. The Seawolves also welcome three talented newcomers to the fold as they look to continue to build a program that competes annually for conference titles and NCAA Tournament bids. 

The New House

The 2014-15 Seawolves will make history as the first team to play in Island FCU Arena, Long Island’s newest destination for sports and entertainment. The new facility holds just over 4,000 fans, who will be able to enjoy chairback seating, scoreboards and videoboards, expanded bathrooms and concession areas and new luxury suites. Island Federal Credit Union will serve as the title sponsor as part of a 10-year, $7 million corporate advertising partnership that reaches across multiple areas of the University community including athletics, arts, academics, Veteran’s Home and alumni relations. 

Meet the New Boss

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Stony Brook is now in the capable hands of Caroline McCombs, who comes to town after helping 11 of 15 teams reach the NCAA Tournament or WNIT as an assistant coach. Named the head coach by Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron on June 5, 2014, McCombs most recently spent two seasons as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Auburn, where she helped the Tigers to back-to-back WNIT berths. Her 2012 recruiting class ranked 16th nationally. During her five-year tenure as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh (2005-10), McCombs mentored the Panthers to five straight national postseason berths, including three Big Dances and two Sweet 16s. She also served stints as an assistant at Northwestern (2010-12) and Valparaiso (1999-05). McCombs is responsible for the development of two Associated Press All-Americans (Amy Jaeschke, Northwestern and Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh) and three WNBA players (Jaeschke, Zellous and Marlous Nieuwveen, Valparaiso). An accomplished collegiate player, the former guard led Youngstown State to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. 

Forwards

Senior Sabre Proctor, a first-team all-conference and third-team All-Met Writers choice in 2013-14, headlines Stony Brook’s list of returning talent. The Harrisburg, Pa., native has established herself as one of the best players in the conference over the last two seasons and has been voted America East Preseason All-Conference in back-to-back years. Last year, she paced the team and finished third in the league in scoring at 14.4 points per game, the best average for a Seawolf since Mykeema Ford in 2006-07. Proctor was essentially a lock to score in double-figures, tallying 10 or more points in 27 of 33 games and 20-plus points ten times. She is currently sixth in school history in games in double-digit scoring (42 games).

Junior Brittany Snow was the only Seawolf to start all 33 games last season and led the team in minutes at 29.6 per game. She was third on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game and fourth in rebounds at 9.8 per game and ranked in the top 20 in the conference in both categories. On Nov. 15, 2013 at Bradley, Snow lit up the scoreboard for 30 points to become the first Seawolf since Ford in 2007 to record 30 points in a single contest. As hard working off the court as she is on it, the psychology major was named to the America East All-Academic Team. 

Junior Alyssa Coiro and redshirt freshman Elizabeth Manner, both 6-1, will continue to provide depth at the position. Coiro played in 29 contests last season and finished with four boards and a steal in Stony Brook’s 65-49 win at Maine Feb. 22. Manner saw action in nine games before missing the rest of the season due to injury and recorded nine points at Navy Nov. 10, 2013. 

Freshman Marshauna Butler will make her Seawolves debut in 2014-15. Butler, a three-year letterwinner at Bowie HS, averaged 15.7 points and 2.1 steals per game as a senior. She owns the school record for career treys. 

Guards

Stony Brook welcomes back five guards who saw action in 2013-14 and adds two freshmen at the position. The Seawolves will also receive a boost from sophomore Christa Scognamiglio, a transfer from Fairfield who sat out last season due to NCAA rules. 

Jessica Ogunnorin is the Seawolves’ leading returning rebounder after ranking fifth in the league with 7.2 boards per game last season. The 6-1, athletic senior ranked third in the conference in offensive boards (3.1), ninth in blocked shots (0.6). She finished fourth on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game. Ogunnorin dropped a game-high 18 points to lead the Seawolves past Albany, 66-56, on the final day of the regular season, locking up a No. 2 seed for the America East Championship. She was named America East Player of the Week for her performance and the next week averaged 12.3 points per game during the conference tournament on her way to All-Championship honors.

Redshirt junior Miranda Jenkins provides instant energy for the Seawolves. A player who constantly hustles for loose balls and gets tips on the offensive glass, Jenkins made 27 starts and averaged 7.3 points per game last season.

Sophomore Kori Bayne-Walker played in all 33 games last year, serving as the backup point guard to 2013-14 America East Defensive Player of the Year Chikilra Goodman, who graduated with her Stony Brook degree following the season. An America East All-Rookie selection, Bayne-Walker is known for her court vision and passing abilities. She tallied a career-high 18 points in a win over Binghamton Feb. 5 and dished out eight helpers at UMass Lowell Feb. 15. She picked up two America East Rookie of the Week accolades and ranked eighth in the league in free throw percentage (.747). 

The Seawolves struggled a bit from behind the arc last season, ranking seventh in America East with a .270 3-point field goal percentage. They will look to improve upon that number as they add Scognamiglio to the mix. The 5-8 product of Orangeburg, N.Y., averaged 16.7 points per game and nearly two triples per contest during her senior year at Pearl River. 

Stony Brook also brings back junior Kim Hanlon and sophomore Kristie Costantino. Hanlon played in 23 games and made two starts last season. She was red-hot in a road contest at Saint Peter’s Dec. 4, when she went 3-for-3 from long range and tied a career high of 11 points. Costantino saw action in 29 games and showed promising ball-handling abilities. She posted a personal-best eight points in the America East quarterfinals vs. UMBC.

Freshmen Kacie Juday and Aaliyah Worley will vie for playing time during their rookie seasons. Juday is a member of the Tipton HS 1,000-point club and is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,469 career points. She graduated fifth all-time in the state of Indiana with 427 steals and averaged 22.5 points, 9.4 boards, 4.7 assists and 5.7 steals per game during a phenomenal senior year. Worley was a four-year letterwinner and three-year captain at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Sciences. A fierce competitor and excellent on-ball defender, Worley played for an elite AAU team in Philly Triple Threat. 

Schedule

The Seawolves will host 14 games at the state-of-the-art Island FCU Arena in 2014-15 and are set to collide with five teams that joined them in a major national postseason tournament in 2013-14. Stony Brook welcomes Saint Peter’s for its home opener Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. before playing reigning Patriot League champion Army Tuesday, Nov. 18. On Friday, Nov. 28, the Seawolves will play at No. 7 Duke, which made the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14. Stony Brook clashes with fellow-2013-14 WNIT qualifier Iona Sunday, Nov. 30 in New Rochelle and visits Iowa State, an NCAA Tournament squad from last season, Sunday, Dec. 7. SBU wraps up non-conference action in the Seawolves Holiday Classic Presented by Hilton Garden Inn Stony Brook. The Seawolves host Western Michigan (Dec. 28) and Norfolk State (Dec. 29) at 2:30 p.m. 

Stony Brook begins its America East slate in a home doubleheader with the men Saturday, Jan. 3 vs. New Hampshire and welcomes Vermont on Kids’ Day (Jan. 7). The Seawolves will play three home contests on ESPN3 as part of the conference’s deal with ESPN (vs. Maine, Jan. 17; vs. Hartford, Jan. 29; vs. Albany, Feb. 22). They will conclude the regular season on the road at Hartford Saturday, March 1. 

The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the America East Championship will be played at Binghamton March 7-8 and air on ESPN3. The championship game will be hosted by the highest seed Friday, March 13 at 4:30 p.m. and be televised by ESPNU.