STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The Stony Brook women's basketball team penned an historic season, setting a program record for victories, earning its first America East regular-season title and producing a nation-leading 22-game winning streak at one point.

And it's not over.

Top-seeded Stony Brook rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat eighth-seeded UAlbany, 54-49, in overtime in the America East quarterfinals on Wednesday at Island Federal Arena.

Anastasia Warren's three-point play with 84 seconds remaining in the extra period gave Stony Brook its first lead of the evening and the Seawolves held on the rest of the way.

The Seawolves advance to host Sunday's 4 p.m. semifinal against fourth-seeded Binghamton.

It marked Stony Brook's largest deficit overcome in a win this season, topping an 11-point comeback in a victory against UMBC on Jan. 2.

"We had a lot of things that didn't go our way. We didn't even take the lead until right there at the end of the game," coach Caroline McCombs said. "We just showed a lot of grit, showed a lot of toughness. We are who we are. We're a defensive team. I think we showed that today. I'm just really proud of our comeback and our fight."

Kaela Hilaire produced a steal and Hailey Zeise followed Hilaire's ensuing miss with a layup to pull Stony Brook even at 45 with 29.9 seconds remaining in regulation and the game headed to overtime.

Stony Brook never led during regulation. The Seawolves had not even been tied except for 0-0 and 45-45.

UAlbany had been bidding to become only the second No. 8 seed ever to top a No. 1 seed in the America East tourney, joining Boston U., which defeated Maine in 2005.
 
The Seawolves (27-3) had swept the regular-season series from the Great Danes (9-21), including a nine-point home win on Saturday.

In the quarterfinal matchup, the Seawolves were held scoreless for the game's opening 5:13, until Warren converted a driving layup. Stony Brook tallied five points in the first quarter — exceeding only a three-point second quarter against UMBC on Jan. 2 for the lowest production in a period this season.

Yet trailing 20-5 midway through the second quarter after consecutive three-pointers from UAlbany's Patricia Conroy and Maky Johnson, Stony Brook awakened. The Seawolves rattled off a dozen straight points and trailed 24-21 at halftime.

"We just didn't make shots," McCombs said about the early deficit. "It wasn't the plays that we were running. I thought we had open shots. I think we've got to get in the gym and get back to work. I don't know if we were nervous, first [playoff] game, but they just didn't fall. They just didn't fall for us."

In the comeback victory, Cheyenne Clark set the program's single-season record for offensive rebounds. She passed Joan Gandolf, who recorded 128 during the 1991-92 season.

Clark notched her fourth double-double of the season (15 points, 14 rebounds). Her final offensive rebound came in the waning moments of OT and allowed Stony Brook to retain possession, setting up Hilaire's free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining that opened a two-possession lead.

"It means a lot to me," Clark said. "I love producing second-chance opportunities and just having that grit and toughness at the end."

Said McCombs: "She's as tough as they come. She wasn't going to be denied. ... You could see it in her face."

Warren finished with a team-high 16 points, including the first seven of Stony Brook's points in the extra period. Hilaire finished with 15 points, despite 5-for-26 shooting from the field.

Stony Brook played without injured leading scorer India Pagan for a third straight game.

As for Sunday's semifinal matchup, the Seawolves swept the regular-season series from Binghamton, although both were single-digit victories, and the Bearcats possess the America East Player of the Year, Kai Moon.

"Obviously she's going to take a lot of their shots," McCombs said about Moon. "They want to get her the ball. At the same time, they have a good supporting cast. I think they're capable of scoring the basketball. They make threes. They can drive it a little bit. They have a good post player inside. So they can score from all around."