STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook University women's basketball team (3-0) had not defeated a current Big East member since December 7, 2004, that changed on Sunday as it toppled St. John's (1-1), 72-60, to improve to (3-0) on the young season. With the win, head coach
Ashley Langford became the first Stony Brook head coach in program history to start their career with a (3-0) record.
The Seawolves and Red Storm played an all but even first quarter as St. John's led, 21-20, after the first 10 minutes of play. Stony Brook took full control of the game in the second quarter as it outscored St. John's, 20-8, in the stanza. The Seawolves used a 9-0 run early in the second quarter to create separation.
Stony Brook took a 40-29 lead into the halftime break as it was firing on all cylinders. The Seawolves were locked in on the defensive end as they limited St. John's to 29.7 percent shooting from the field and 18.2 percent shooting from three in the first half. In the second quarter, Stony Brook held the Red Storm to 19.0 percent shooting from the floor and did not allow a three-pointer (0-of-6) in the frame.
The Seawolves carried that first half momentum into the third quarter as they added to their lead through the duration of the stanza. Stony Brook went on to outscore St. John's, 19-17, in the third quarter as it took a 59-46 lead into the fourth. The Seawolves' lead grew to as large as 21 points, 72-51, with 4:18 to play in the game.
Stony Brook used a balanced scoring attack to knock off St. John's as it had six student-athletes score eight or more points in the contest. Senior guard
Anastasia Warren led the way with 19 points as the Seawolves went on to close out the Red Storm by the final score of 72-60.
STATS AND NOTES
- Coach Langford has now taken the Seawolves to (3-0) in her first three games at the helm. She became the first head coach in Stony Brook women's basketball history to begin her career at (3-0), and has done so by the team scoring 70+ points in each of those three games.
- Warren led the team with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, while making her only free-throw attempt. She also added six rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 26 minutes of play.
- Graduate forward India Pagan finished with 10 points, moving her into sole possession of the 14th spot in career points with 1,139 points ahead of Agnes Ferro. She also notched nine rebounds and four assists in her 95th career start, making her eighth all-time in career starts.
- Graduate forward Leighah-Amori Wool tallied 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range. Wool also grabbed five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists in 28 minutes.
- Senior guard Earlette Scott finished with nine points on 2-of-7 shooting, but finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. She added five rebounds and three assists in the win.
- Junior guard Gigi Gonzalez scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out five assists.
- Senior forward Nairimar Vargas-Reyes scored a season-high eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, which included going 2-of-3 from three. She also pulled down four rebounds in 13 minutes of play off the bench.
- As a team, the Seawolves dished out 21 assists and made nine threes. It marked the second time this season that they dished out 20 or more assists in a game and the nine threes were their most makes from behind the arc this season.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"We came out ready to play today. I really got on them about transition defense and that was the key to the game – really keeping St. John's from fast break points and we did that. I told them from the beginning defense is going to win us games. I'm really happy with the intensity that we came out with and it was a collective group effort, it wasn't just one person. Everyone's stepping up; we got some people in foul trouble that couldn't play in the first quarter, and our bench was ready to go. Everybody's contributing and I know that makes them feel good, everyone's got their back, and everyone's ready to go. I am really pleased with our effort and happy with our team that we were able to realize this win because they deserve it," said coach Langford.
NEXT UP
Stony Brook is back in action on Tuesday, November 16, at 11 a.m., when it takes on Rutgers out of the Big Ten. The meeting marks the third time in history that the Tri-state area foes will go head-to-head and the first time since November 9, 2018. Stony Brook is (0-2) all-time against Rutgers. The game is set to air on
Big Ten Network+.
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