NEW YOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook University women's basketball team (6-0) used an offensive explosion to knock off New York foe Columbia (5-1), 91-82, on Wednesday afternoon. The Seawolves were led by five student-athletes who scored in double figures as they improved to 6-0, their best start to a season in program history.
Stony Brook is one of four schools in the nation up until this point to begin the 2021-22 season with a 6-0 record. The Seawolves are joined by Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Carolina as the only 6-0 teams in the nation.
There was no shortage of offense in New York City on Thanksgiving Eve as Stony Brook erupted for a season-high 91 points. The 91 points are the most that the Seawolves have scored in a game since they scored 96 points on February 24, 2007, against Vermont. The 91 points are the second-most that Stony Brook has scored in a single-game in its Division I era.
It marked the second time this season that the Seawolves had five student-athletes finish a game in double figures. Stony Brook also had five score in double-digits in the season opener against Delaware State on November 9. Junior guard
Gigi Gonzalez led the way with a career-high 21 points as she did a bulk of her damage from the free-throw line by converting 14-of-16 attempts.
Gonzalez was joined by graduate forward
India Pagan (16 points), graduate forward
Leighah-Amori Wool (11 points), graduate forward
McKenzie Bushee (11 points), and senior forward
Nairimar Vargas-Reyes (10 points).
The teams were locked in a back-and-forth fast paced contest that was tied at 59-59 after three quarters of play. Stony Brook used a 32-point fourth quarter to seal its sixth consecutive victory. The 32 points were the most that the Seawolves have scored in any quarter this season. Gonzalez scored 13 of her career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter of play as she helped guide Stony Brook to the win.
STATS AND NOTES
- Gonzalez led the team with a career-high 21 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and went 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. The 14 made free-throws and 16 attempts were both career-highs for the guard as she drew a game-high nine fouls. She added four assists in 30 minutes of play.
- Pagan scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, pulled down six rebounds, and dished out a pair of assists. It was the third time this season that she scored in double figures and the fifth time that she recorded at least six rebounds in a game.
- Wool tallied 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and recorded three rebounds.
- Bushee scored a season-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and registered five rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
- Vargas-Reyes poured in a season-high 10 points and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds coming off the bench. The forward shot a near perfect 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range.
- All nine Seawolves who saw action in the game scored at least four points.
- Stony Brook won the battle for the boards as it out rebounded Columbia 42-28. The Seawolves recorded 16 offensive rebounds.
- The Seawolves shot 8-of-16 as a team from three-point range and have made at least seven threes in every game to start the season.
- Stony Brook shot 50.8 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three, and 73.1 percent from the free-throw line.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I was really pleased and proud with our performance today. We found a way, our whole thing has been defense, but today we didn't really defend as well as I would've liked to, but we found a way to still get a 'W'. To me that's resiliency, that's figuring it out – I am proud of them for doing that. Columbia is a great team, they are a really good offensive team, and hard to guard. We got key stops when we needed to and people stepped up. We are a collective team and that's what makes us good and that's what makes us challenging – we had five players in double-digits. It's a team effort, it's not just one person that people can key on. I've been on them about the glass and we got 16 offensive rebounds today, so I am really happy about that," said head coach
Ashley Langford.
"It was a tough game, Columbia is a great team – probably the best team that we have played yet. It's a great win and I am just happy that we got the win. Both teams played really hard and it was a great game collectively," said senior guard
Earlette Scott.
NEXT UP
Stony Brook returns to Island Federal Arena on Sunday, November 28, to face St. Francis Brooklyn at 2 p.m. The game is set to air on
ESPN+ with
Sam Neidermann (play-by-play) and Rob Pavinelli (analyst) on the call. Be sure to
purchase your tickets now to be a part of the action!
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram.
