STONY BROOK, N.Y. — For the first time in 262 days, the Stony Brook women's basketball team played an official game on Wednesday. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, their 20-game homecourt winning streak came to an end in the 2020-21 season opener despite a furious comeback after intermission.

Fordham held on to defeat the reigning America East champion Seawolves, 62-58, in the first Stony Brook athletic competition since the baseball team's March 11 win against Merrimack.

"We've been working all fall for this game," said point guard Asiah Dingle, who made her Stony Brook debut. "We just tried to put our all on the court and tried to get that 'W'. It didn't end the way we wanted to, but we're excited to finally play together."

The Seawolves trailed by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but closed to within 50-49 courtesy of a 17-2 run capped by India Pagan's layup with 6 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the game. However, Fordham held on and never trailed in the contest.

Sarah Karpell's three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining opened a 58-53 lead for Fordham and blunted Stony Brook's late surge. Anastasia Warren's three-pointer with 3.8 seconds to go pulled the Seawolves within two points. The Rams answered with a pair of free throws at the other end to account for the decisive margin.

The game marked the Stony Brook debuts of Nairimar Vargas-Reyes and Earlette Scott in addition to Dingle.

Dingle, who led Kent State in scoring last season, handled point guard and led the Seawolves with 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting. Victoria Johnson, Hailey Zeise, Jonae Cox and Pagan joined her in the starting lineup.

Johnson made her first career start.

No spectators were permitted inside Island Federal Arena per state guidelines and other health protocols as the nation continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Participants from both teams began undergoing testing three times a week earlier this month to maximize safety.

The Seawolves were handed their first homecourt loss since Jan. 23, 2019, against UAlbany.

The 20-game home winning streak, which included a perfect 15-0 mark last season at Island Federal Arena, had been tied with Belmont for the third-longest active streak in the nation, trailing only Baylor (56 games) and Iowa (36).

The Rams led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter. But the Seawolves closed the period on an 8-0 run, capped by Scott's driving layup with 46 seconds remaining in the period, to pull within 48-40 entering the fourth quarter.

The run reached a dozen straight points and the Seawolves pulled within 48-44 before Fordham halted its 5:17 scoring drought in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

Wednesday's contest marked the first meeting with Stony Brook and Fordham since 2012.

Stony Brook looks to regroup Sunday when it hosts Syracuse at 2 p.m. at Island Federal Arena.