RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Stony Brook women's basketball team dominated in the first half and came away with a 79-48 victory over Manhattan at the Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. 

The team held a commanding 43-17 lead at the half thanks to 66.7 percent shooting in the second quarter. In those 10 minutes of action, the Seawolves went 8-of-12 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and punched in nine free throws. 
 
Senior G Shania Johnson (Frederick, N.J.)was nearly unstoppable, recording 23 points and seven assists. Sophomore F India Pagan (New London, Conn.)and senior G Jerell Matthews (Chicago, Ill.)also put in work at the rim, combining for 24 points. Johnson, Pagan and sophomore G/F Jonae Cox (Portsmouth, Va.)all paced the squad with six rebounds each. 

McCOMBS REACTION
"I thought we played an outstanding first half of basketball on both ends of the floor. Our challenge is to string together a complete 40 minutes. I believe we will continue to grow together and add depth in all positions."

HIGHLIGHTS

• Similar to Stony Brook's win against Hofstra earlier this week, the team came out blazing, going on an eight-point run early in the matchup.
• Manhattan did play catch up, going on its own little 6-0 run to tie it all up, 8-8, but the Seawolves responded with six-unanswered points to take a lead they would not relinquish.
• Stony Brook frustrated its opponent in the second quarter, forcing Manhattan to shoot just 20 percent for a mere eight points.
• The Jaspers turned things up a notch coming out of the locker room, matching Stony Brook's scoring in the third quarter, 18-18.
• The Seawolves kept the heat coming, however, taking its largest lead of the game (38 points) with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter following back-to-back buckets by sophomore F McKenzie Bushee (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
• Free throw shooting was key for Stony Brook, going 16-of-22, including five each from Matthews and Johnson and four from Cox.
   

NOTES

• Stony Brook's 31-point win is the largest margin of victory since the team went on to defeat Farmingdale St. 76-25 on Nov. 22 of 2017.
• Overall, the team shot 44.4 percent, including 35 percent on three-point attempts, and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe.
• The squad took advantage of the ball off of turnovers, cashing in 26 points from the takeaways.
• Stony Brook led for the vast majority of the game, holding the scoring advantage over Manhattan for 36:20.
• In the first three games of the season, the Seawolves have employed the same starting lineup of Junior F Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Markham, Ontario), Pagan, Matthews, Johnson and sophomore G Hailey Zeise (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
• The all-time series against Manhattan is now tied up, 3-3. Stony Brook has won the past three contests, with the last two coming by decisions of 74-59 in 2017 and 55-50 in 2016.
• Head Coach Caroline McCombs is tied with former head coach Trish Roberts (1999-04) as the program's winningest coach in Stony Brook's Division I era with 66 wins on her resume. 
• Stony Brook has won two games in a row and looks to top its five-game win streak from last season. 
   

UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns home to host Georgia Southern at the Island Federal Credit Union Arena this Tuesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.