STONY BROOK, N.Y. — It was a day of celebration surrounding the Stony Brook women's basketball program.
 
The department hosted a fan appreciation day during which all attendees received free admission.

Graduate point guard Kaela Hilaire scored her 1,000th career point.

And the Stony Brook women's basketball program capped a historic regular season with its 26th win.

On top of that, the team celebrated its five-member graduating class of 2020.
 
The regular-season-ending victory came in front of 1,175 fans at Island Federal Arena — a 53-44 win against rival UAlbany that snapped a two-game losing streak. The victory sends the Seawolves, who recently enjoyed a 22-game winning streak, into the postseason on a high note.

A rematch with UAlbany now awaits in the America East quarterfinals.

The Great Danes make the trip back down to Island Federal Arena as the No. 8 seed, playing the regular-season-champion Seawolves Wednesday at 6:31 p.m.

"I think they were definitely playing for our seniors today," coach Caroline McCombs said. "That was something that we talked about with it being Senior Day and Alumnae Day — just playing for those seniors and all of those women who have come before us."
 
Hilaire's historic bucket came to end the third quarter, a driving layup with five seconds remaining in the period, to put her into four-figure point totals for her career between Seton Hall and Stony Brook. The point guard's milestone bucket was met with a standing ovation and applause from the fans, including family and friends donning "KK Hilaire" T-shirts.

In addition to Hilaire, Stony Brook also honored graduating  Cheyenne Clark, Kyra Dixon, Kina Smith and Hailey Zeise during a pregame ceremony.

"Being back on the Island, I've had a lot of people who watched me grow in high school finally be able to see me play at the college level," Hilaire said of her support system. "Playing at Stony Brook, the support that they give me is unmatched."
 
Stony Brook took advantage of numerous opportunities on the glass, turning 18 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points. The Seawolves dominated UAlbany in rebounding, winning the board battle 47-27.
 
The Seawolves (26-3) closed the first quarter on a  9-3 run to take an eight-point lead into the break and never looked back.
 
Sophomore Anastasia Warren scored a team-high 11 points. Clark led the squad with 14 rebounds.
 
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