STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook kept it close, but Maine pulled away in the fourth quarter as the Seawolves fell, 68-54, at the Island Federal Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Black Bears entered the final 10 minutes with an eight-point lead and outscored Stony Brook 12-6 down the stretch to claim the victory.
 
Despite the outcome, three Stony Brook players found themselves in double figures with redshirt sophomore F Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Montreal, Canada) leading the way with 15 points. Sophomore F India Pagan (New London, Conn.) added in 14 and senior G Shania Johnson (Frederick, Md.) had 10.
 
McCOMBS REACTION
"Credit to Maine. They came in here and ran their offense. We needed to do a better job of getting them to take tougher twos and not allowing them to get second chance opportunities. We quit scoring with them in the fourth quarter, but it's not our offense, it's our defense that needs to be better."
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Gouchie-Provencher was unstoppable in the first quarter, tallying 10 points from 4-of-5 shooting as Maine took a 17-15 advantage at the end of the period.
• The Seawolves found itself in the lead once during that frame, tying things up midway through, 7-7, after Gouchie-Provencher put in a jumper.
• Gouchie-Provencher struck once again with a three two possessions later to give Stony Brook the edge.
• After Maine took the lead after a buzzer-beating layup to cap off the opening quarter, the home team once again found itself on top with 3:30 left in the second quarter after a layup by sophomore G/F Jonae Cox (Portsmouth, Va.) made it 27-26.
• With 4:34 left in the third quarter, Pagan converted an old-fashioned three-point play to level the game, 46-46.
• Pagan would once again strike with two minutes left in the third to muscle the team back within two points, 48-50.

NOTES

• Johnson is now fourth in program history in single-season assists with 147.
• She has also scored at least 10 points in 17 of the team's 18 games this season.
• With her 14 points, Pagan has also scored at least 10 in 14 of the 17 contests she has seen action in.
• Sophomore G/F Hailey Zeise (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tied her career high in assists with four.
• Maine entered today's game averaging 8.5 steals per game and only came away with three.

UP NEXT
Stony Brook is back on its home court next week, hosting Albany at the Island Federal Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23.