BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Stony Brook women's basketball team got back to its winning ways on Saturday afternoon, topping Vermont, 67-61, at Patrick Gymnasium. The result put a hault to the Seawolves' two-game losing skid and bumped the team up to a tie for third in the America East Standings (15-5, 4-3 AE).
 
Senior G Jerell Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) filled the stat sheet with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two assists. Redshirt sophomore F Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Montreal, Canada) (12), sophomore F India Pagan (New London, Conn.) (11) and sophomore G/F Jonae Cox (Portsmouth, Va.) (11) all found themselves in double figures as well.

McCOMBS REACTION
"I'm really proud of our team today. We were challenged in many ways and stayed focused and together on the road. I think this game instilled some confidence in our players that will lead to more growth for us this season."
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The third quarter was a pivotal one for Stony Brook as the Seawolves scored 28 points from 75 percent shooting (12-of-16) after trailing, 28-29, at halftime.
• Freshman G Anastasia Warren (Atlanta, Ga.) opened up the quarter with a three-point basket, giving the team its first lead since late in the first quarter.
• Gouchie-Provencher was a big factor in the scoring surge, recording all 12 of her points in the third period alone, including a buzzer-beater jumper to give Stony Brook an eight point (56-48) lead heading into the fourth.
• The Seawolves found its biggest lead of the day in the start of the fourth period as Cox swished through a free throw to give them a nine-point advantage.
• Vermont crawled back into it down the stretch, cutting its deficit to four with 2:12 remaining in regulation after two successful free throw attempts, but Matthews blocked a crucial shot down on the defensive end and made two big free throws with 16 seconds left to seal the deal.
• Stony Brook got off to a fast 4-0 start to begin the game thanks to two back-to-back buckets by Pagan.
• The rest of the quarter featured back-and-forth play from both teams as the score was tied on three occasions before the Catamounts converted a three-point play to take a 15-12 lead at the end of the frame.
• Vermont was in control in the second quarter, never trailing to find themselves up by nine with 4:41 left until halftime.
• Stony Brook responded with a 6-0 run of its own to tighten things up with minutes to spare until the half.
   

NOTES

• This was sophomore G Chantz Cherry's (Decatur, Ga.) first-career start.
• Stony Brook tallied 23 points off of the bench with Cox leading the reserves with her 11 points – a season high.
• Sophomore F McKenzie Bushee (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tied her career high with three blocks.
• The Seawolves out-rebounded Vermont, 39-25, and held the Catamounts well below its season rebounding average (35.1).
• Overall, the score was tied a total of four times with the lead changing twice.
• Matthews is now No. 7 all-time in school history in career three-point field goals made (104).
• Stony Brook has won its past three games against Vermont and is only two games behind in the all-time series (17-19).

UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns home to the Island Federal Arena next week, hosting UMBC on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.