STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook women's basketball team erased a 26-point deficit and came from behind to defeat Iona in thrilling fashion, 73-71, on Monday night at Island Federal Arena. After being down 38-12 with 6:14 to play in the second quarter, the Seawolves outscored the Gaels 61-33 to earn their second win of the season.
Sophomore forward
Sherese Pittman grabbed an offensive rebound with less than 10 seconds left in the game and went back up over four Iona defenders to score and give Stony Brook a 73-71 lead.
The Seawolves' defense stood strong as Pittman locked up Iona's Ketsia Athias on the final possession and held off the Gaels' final chance to secure the win for Stony Brook.
The Seawolves were led by graduate guard
Anastasia Warren and senior guard
Gigi Gonzalez, who both had career nights.
With less than one-minute remaining in the third quarter, Warren drilled a three-pointer to cut Stony Brook's deficit back to six points. It got her up to 23 points on the night, as she eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark.
Warren is the 19
th player in Stony Brook women's basketball program history to score at least 1,000 points in her career.
She finished the game with a game-high 28 points, along with seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Gonzalez scored a career-high 24 points with three rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Graduate forward
Nairimar Vargas-Reyes put forth a valiant effort with her second career double-double. She scored 10 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.
Stony Brook led for just 31 seconds, but was able to come out victorious with its astounding comeback.
STATS AND NOTES
- Warren scored 28 points for the second-straight game. Her scoring average is up to 20.7 points per game through three games this season. She shot 10-of-20 from the floor, 3-of-6 from three-point range, and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
- Gonzalez poured in a career-high 24 points as she paced the offense with three assists. The guard shot 8-of-20 from the field and connected on 6-of-7 free-throws.
- Vargas had her first double-double since November 28, 2021, when she scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds against St. Francis Brooklyn.
- Pittman was the hero late in the game as she converted the game-winning basket and came up with the stop that secured the win for the Seawolves. The sophomore finished with nine points and five rebounds in over 36 minutes of action.
- Stony Brook had five players score in the game as Warren (28), Gonzalez (24), Vargas (10), Pittman (9), and junior guard Shamarla King (2), all tallied points.
- The Seawolves outscored the Gaels in the second quarter (18-17), third quarter (26-15), and fourth quarter (21-13).
- Stony Brook won the rebound battle over Iona, 38-31.
- The Seawolves now hold a 10-5 record over Iona in the all-time series. Stony Brook has won five-straight games against the Gaels.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
NEXT UP
Stony Brook hits the road again to take on the St. John's Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena in Queens on Saturday, November 19. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on FloHoops.
