SAN JUAN — Freshman Gigi Gonzalez was pressed into significant responsibility running the point for the Stony Brook women's basketball team on Sunday. She and junior Victoria Johnson rose to the occasion, and the Seawolves headed home unbeaten in the Puerto Rico Clasico.

Minus Kaela Hilaire after an injury sidelined her three minutes into the game, the duo helped Stony Brook navigate a 50-47 win against Western Michigan at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez.

"It was such an amazing team effort," said Gonzalez, who logged a career-high 27 minutes. "Different people stepped up, but everybody was locked in and that's why we won the game."

The Seawolves earned their eighth straight victory. Their 11-1 record is their best start through a dozen games in the Division I era.

Stony Brook closed the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 23-20 lead into halftime.

India Pagan began the scoring spurt with a baseline jumper with 3:15 remaining in the quarter. Johnson then drained consecutive three-pointers to give the Seawolves their first lead since the game's early minutes. Johnson's steal and McKenzie Bushee's layup at the other end completed the second-quarter spurt.

Western Michigan (6-4) briefly retook the lead in the third quarter, but Pagan's turnaround jumper in the paint gave Stony Brook a 30-29 lead with 5:25 remaining in that period and the Seawolves led the rest of the afternoon, albeit narrowly.

Johnson's off-balance field goal with 6.7 seconds remaining and the shot clock expiring gave the Seawolves a two-possession lead and secured the win.

"I knew the game was on the line," Johnson said. "Hailey [Zeise] in-bounded the ball to me and I knew we needed to run some time off the clock, so I did that. Then all I could hear was coach saying to go score it because the shot clock was about to expire. I attacked and tried to hit it off the backboard and it went it."

Johnson finished with a career-high 21 points, while Pagan followed with 10 points along with eight rebounds. 

Pagan, returning to the island where her parents were born, and playing in the arena where she has trained for the past two years with the Puerto Rican national team, had started the Seawolves' trip on a high note with her second career double-double in a 63-56 win against Morgan State in Friday's opener.

Stony Brook now looks forward to its first home game since Dec. 3. The Seawolves host Bucknell next Sunday at 2 p.m., following the Stony Brook men's game at noon.

"Our team really battled through adversity today and we had different players who stepped up when their name was called," head coach Caroline McCombs said. "I'm proud of their togetherness and toughness. This was another big win for our program, not just because we got the win, but because of the continued growth and selflessness of each individual on our team."

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH A HOOPS DOUBLEHEADER ON DEC. 29 AS THE STONY BROOK MEN HOST NORFOLK STATE AT NOON AND THE WOMEN HOST BUCKNELL AT 2 P.M. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.