LOWELL, Mass. – Senior G Shania Johnson (Frederick, Md.) claimed yet another school record on Saturday afternoon as she and the rest of the Stony Brook women's basketball team notched a win over UMass Lowell at the Costello Athletic Center, 64-47.
 
This time, Johnson topped the 29-year old single-season assists record (185) which was previously set by Jill Cook (180) during the 1989-90 season. This is the third record that she has claimed this year as Johnson also earned the single-game assists record (15 vs. New Paltz) and tied the record in single-game three-point field goals made (7 at Binghamton).

McCOMBS REACTION
"I thought we played three really solid quarters of basketball today. We shared the ball and played together. We let UMass Lowell get loose offensively in the third, but we regrouped and responded on both ends to finish the game strong."
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Johnson's record-setting assist occurred with 2:41 left until halftime as she sent an overhead pass to sophomore F McKenzie Bushee (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who was right under the basket to put in the layup.
• Bushee's basket pushed the score to 36-19 in Stony Brook's favor to give the team its biggest lead of the afternoon.
• Sophomore F India Pagan (New London, Conn.) was on a roll in the beginning of the first and second quarters, recording Stony Brook's first six points in each of those periods.
• The game began as an absolute shootout between the two teams, as the Seawolves shot 75 percent and UMass Lowell shot 66.7 percent for a score of 13-10 at the first media timeout.
• Stony Brook blasted the game wide open during the second quarter, outscoring the River Hawks 23-10 to take a 40-24 advantage at halftime.
• The frame was highlighted by unanswered Seawolf runs of 6-0 and 8-0 as UMass Lowell managed to only record three field goals for 23.1 percent shooting.
• The home team would come back in the third to outscore Stony Brook by an 18-9 margin, dwindling its deficit down to as low as four (46-42) after tallying nine-unanswered points.
• The Seawolves only converted three field goals in the third and were held scoreless for seven minutes until redshirt sophomore Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Montreal, Canada) hit a three on the team's final possession of the quarter.
• The River Hawks still hung around in the fourth until a dagger 3-pointer by sophomore G/F Hailey Zeise (Pittsburgh, Pa.) with 5:24 left in the contest pushed UMass Lowell's disadvantage to 10-plus points for the remainder of the game.

NOTES

• Stony Brook is a perfect 12-0 against UMass Lowell since the River Hawks made the transition to DI in 2013.
• The team's 18 wins already matches its win total from last season.
• This is the seventh time this year that the Seawolves' defense has held its opponent to under 50 points.
• Gouchie-Provencher has officially cracked into the top-10 list for blocks in a single season, tying Erika Bascom (1993-94) for the 10th spot with 32 stops.
• Senior G Jerell Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) also made her way into the top 10 in a couple of different categories, tying for No. 10 in single-season threes (47) and coming in at No. 10 in double-digit scoring (since 1994-95) with 38 outings tallying 10 or more points.
• Stony Brook led for nearly the entire contest (38:28) and scored 19 points from turnovers, 28 in the paint and 12 from second-chance opportunities.
• Four Seawolves got into double figures with Matthews pacing the squad with 17.
• Pagan added in 12 and Gouchie-Provencher and Johnson each chipped in 10.
• Johnson was just one assist shy of nabbing her eighth double-double of the season.

UP NEXT
Stony Brook hits its midweek bye, next seeing action on Saturday, Feb. 16. The Seawolves host New Hampshire for a 2 p.m. start at the Island Federal Arena. The game will serve as the team's Alumnae Game and will also feature a clinic beforehand in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.