Game 7: Stony Brook (5-1, 0-0 AE) vs. Cornell (2-4, 0-0 Ivy)
LOCATION	Island Federal Arena | Stony Brook, N.Y.
DATE | TIME	Saturday, Dec. 1  |  5 p.m.
TICKETS	Buy Now
COVERAGE	Live Stats  |  Watch Live

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook women's basketball team will be looking for its sixth-straight win this Saturday as it hosts Cornell at the Island Federal Arena for a 5 p.m. contest. The game will be a part of a double header with the men's basketball team who is scheduled to play Quinnipiac at 7 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE SEAWOLVES:
Stony Brook is riding a five-game win streak with an overall record of 5-1 this season. The team has faced two Big Ten opponents this year, falling to Rutgers (47-61) in the season opener while defeating Penn State (81-70) on Sunday.
 
Shania Johnson (Frederick, Md.) and Jerell Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) are the two big point-getters for the squad, totaling 201 points. Johnson has tallied 106 points thus far, with 60 coming from behind the arc, and has amassed 59 assists, 27 rebounds and 16 steals. Matthews has contributed 95 points, 34 rebounds, 11 steals and three blocks. She is also 12-of-14 from the free throw line.
 
India Pagan (New London, Conn.) is the big rebounder on the team coming up with 35 total boards and Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Markham, Ontario) leads the way with seven blocks.
 
Stony Brook was selected to finish tied for second in the preseason America East poll. Johnson was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team.

LAST TIME OUT:
The team welcomed Division III opponent New Paltz to the Island Federal Arena on Wednesday night and cruised to an 87-50 win. Shania Johnson made history, tallying 15 assists to claim both the Stony Brook and America East single-game assists records. 

Four Stony Brook players got into double figures with India Pagan leading the way with a career-high 18 points. Johnson added in 17, Jerell Matthews had 16 and Oksana Gouchie-Provencher had a career's best 14. 
 
Courtney Furr (Elkridge, Md.) notched her first-career points in a Stony Brook jersey, popping in a layup with 3:21 left until the half before splashing in a three just minutes later. She ended with seven points on the night.
 
The squad shot 50 percent from the floor and 35.7 from beyond the arc. New Paltz converted only 33.9 percent of its tries. 
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED:
Cornell arrives to Stony Brook coming off of a 54-67 loss to Lehigh on Thursday night. Laura Bagwell-Katalinich led the Big Red with 12 points and six rebounds. Theresa Grace Mbanefo also hit double figures with 10 points. Danielle Jorgenson chipped in five assists. 
 
Overall, the team is 2-4 with wins over Albany (48-34) and UMass Lowell (63-54). Bagwell-Katalinich has 69 points, 52 rebounds and 10 steals this season. Samantha Widmann and Danielle Jorgenson each have 18 helpers with Jorgenson also adding in 10 steals. Mbanefo has blocked five shots this year. 
 
Last season, the Big Red went 7-20 and was picked to finish eighth in the Ivy League preseason poll. 

THE SERIES WITH CORNELL:
These two programs have met five total times with Stony Brook holding a slight 3-2 advantage. Last year, Cornell successfully defended its home court in Ithaca, N.Y. and walked away with a 48-40 win.
 
RECORD (BREAKING) MACHINE:
Shania Johnson broke both the Stony Brook and America East single-game records for assists with 15 against New Paltz. She now sits at No. 10 in program history in career assists with 228. She also ranks fifth in career 3-pointers made with 115. Classmate Jerell Matthews is eighth in the same category with 88 total baskets made from beyond the arc. 
 
IN THE RANKINGS:
Shania Johnson ranks towards the top of the nation in several different assist-related categories. Her 15 helpers versus New Paltz is the second most in a single game, only trailing Aisia Robertson of New Mexico's 16 assists against Oklahoma. 
 
Johnson's 59 total assists are first in the country and her 9.8 assists per game average is second, only behind Robertson. 
 
India Pagan is eighth nationally in field goal percentage, finding the basket 66.7 percent of the time.
 
Overall, the team is 12th in assists per game (19.7), 17th in assist-turnover ratio (1.31), 23rd in offensive rebounds per game (17) and 25th in scoring defense (53.5). 

DUB ON 'EM:
Head Coach Caroline McCombs became the program's winningest coach in Stony Brook's Division I era after the Seawolves' 72-43 win over Georgia Southern at home last Tuesday. With her 67th win at the helm of the program, McCombs surpassed Trish Roberts (1999-04) in that honor.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS:
Shania Johnson is the America East Player of the Week for the second time in a row after her incredible week against Georgia Southern and Penn State. The senior guard combined for 37 points, 22 assists and nine rebounds to earn conference weekly honors for the fourth time in her career.

Last week, Anastasia Warren (Atlanta, Ga.) was the Rookie of the Week following her 16-point performance against Hofstra.

TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES:
Shania Johnson has three double-doubles on the season with the first coming against Hofstra in the team's home opener (14 pts, 10 ast). Johnson notched her second last week versus Georgia Southern, scoring 12 points and recording 13 assists. Against New Paltz she had 17 points and 15 assists. 

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:
The team has three freshmen on the team, Courtney Furr, Laniya Miller and Anastasia Warren. Furr hails from Elkridge, Md., Miller comes to Stony Brook from Piscataway, N.J. and Warren's hometown is Atlanta, Ga. Warren has scored 34 points on the season, Miller pulled down two rebounds and notched one steal against New Paltz and Furr earned her first-career points against the Hawks, recording seven.

NEW LEADERSHIP:
Head Coach Caroline McCombs welcomed four new faces to her coaching staff this season. Associate Head Coach Jeff Williams comes to Stony Brook from LaSalle University where he was the head coach for eight years. Assistant Coach Bri Hutchen spent the past three years on staff at Iona while Assistant Coach Dario Hernandez arrived to campus following one year at Columbus State. Director of Operations Caitlyn Isler is in her first year with the Seawolves as well. Isler graduated with her Masters of Science in Kinesiology (Sports Management) in 2018 from Ohio State.

2017-18 REWIND:
Shania Johnson led the Seawolves last season with 15.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game, earning All-Conference First Team honors. Classmate Jerell Matthews was named to the league's third team after putting up 14.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in 2017-18. McKenzie Bushee (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also earn all-conference honors as she was named to the All-Rookie team. She added 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in her debut season. 

The Seawolves earned an America East quarterfinal appearance last season after closing out the regular season with five straight league wins. The team lost just one senior and welcomed three freshmen. 

UP NEXT:
Stony Brook hits the road next week, traveling to Sacred Heart for a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday, Dec. 4.