STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Down by as much as 13 in the first quarter, the Stony Brook women's basketball team rallied, but ultimately fell to UAlbany, 54-49, at the Island Federal Arena on Wednesday night.
 
The Seawolves chipped away at its deficit throughout the remainder of the game and got within one point on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but couldn't overcome the Great Danes.
 
Playing in her first game in six weeks, senior G Jerell Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) stood out, recording a team-high 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore F India Pagan (New London, Conn.) also hit double figures with 12 points and added in four rebounds.

McCOMBS REACTION
"I thought we showed a lot of fight in the fourth quarter, but we just came up short tonight. We have to get out to a better start at the beginning of the game to not put ourselves in that position."
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• With UAlbany kicking off the game with a 15-2 run, Stony Brook fought back in the final few minutes of the first quarter, outscoring the Great Danes by a margin of 10-3.
• The run was capped-off with a 3-point basket by Matthews, who then grabbed a steal and ran down the court for an easy layup on the next possession.
• Matthews had already tallied eight points at the end of the first 10 minutes.
• As the halftime buzzer sounded, the score was 31-23 in UAlbany's favor following a buzzer-beating three by senior G Shania Johnson (Frederick, Md.).
• After the halftime break, Stony Brook kept it close, getting within two points after a 6-0 run.
• The spurt began with a Matthews' putback and grew as Pagan layed in back-to-back baskets and was capped with a Matthew's jumper.
• The Great Danes got its advantage back up to nine with 1:23 left in the third as they responded with a seven-point run.
• Stony Brook got within one (42-43) with 7:55 left in regulation as sophomore F McKenzie Bushee (Pittsburgh, Pa.) got a tough shot to go through and sophomore G Chantz Cherry (Decatur, Ga.) notched a steal and a layup.
• The Seawolves once again got its deficit down to one (48-49) with 1:57 remaining in the contest as Bushee grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball in.
• UAlbany responded to the comeback with a 3-pointer and knocked down two free throws down the stretch the grab the win.

NOTES

• Matthews' seven rebounds was just one shy of tying her career high.
• Sophomore G/F Hailey Zeise (Pittsburgh, Pa.) notched a new career high in steals with five.
• Stony Brook had its best shooting outing in the third quarter, hitting its shots 41.7 percent of the time to outscore UAlbany that quarter, 15-12.
   

UP NEXT
Stony Brook hits the road for Vermont this weekend, taking on the Catamounts this Saturday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m.