STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Caroline McCombs, who led the Stony Brook women's basketball team to unprecedented heights in seven seasons at the helm, has accepted the head coaching position at George Washington University.

Stony Brook will begin a national search for a replacement, director of athletics Shawn Heilbron said.

Under McCombs, Stony Brook has won back-to-back America East postseason titles — the first two such championships in program history.

The Seawolves, who were on the verge of qualifying for the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history in 2019-20 before COVID-19 halted the conference tourney, realized that dream this past season.

Stony Brook earned the No. 14 seed and faced eventual Final Four qualifier Arizona in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.

McCombs led the Seawolves to a program-record 28-3 mark in 2019-20 en route to the program's first-ever America East regular-season championship. That record-setting season also included a 22-game win streak, which had been the longest active streak in the nation.

With a 130-76 record in seven seasons at Stony Brook, McCombs is the program's winningest coach in its Division I era and the second-winningest coach overall.

The Seawolves earned 19 all-conference selections in seven seasons under McCombs.

"Caroline was my first hire at Stony Brook seven years ago, and has worked tirelessly to build our women's basketball program into the success it is today," Heilbron said. "Under her direction, our team has reached historic heights. I'll always appreciate our time together. As we turn our attention to identifying our next head coach, the goal is to find a proven winner who will build upon our success and lead us to new heights."