THE NITTY GRITTY: The Stony Brook University women's basketball team (23-5, 14-4 America East) travels south to take on VCU (15-11, 9-5 Atlantic 10) in the first round of the WNIT on Friday, March 18 at 6 p.m. The game is set to air on ESPN3.
 
THE MATCHUP: This matchup marks the first time in history Stony Brook and VCU will go head-to-head. The Seawolves currently hold a 2-22 record against teams that hail from the Atlantic 10.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves fell to UAlbany, 57-56, on Saturday, February 26, in the final regular season conference matchup, marking their 5^th loss of the season and 4^th in the conference. Forward India Pagan led the scoring for the Seawolves raking in 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Pagan also went a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe.  McKenzie Bushee knocked down nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds. Senior forward Nairimar Vargas-Reyes came off the bench to grab a team-high eight rebounds.
 
IN IT TO W(I)NIT: The Seawolves received an at-large berth into the national postseason tournament. This will mark the third time Stony Brook has made an appearance in the event.  Stony Brook first made an appearance in the WNIT in 2006 when they faced-off against Long Island foe Hofstra in the first round. The last time the Seawolves competed in the tournament was in 2014 when they fell to Michigan in the first round. This marks the sixth appearance in a national postseason tournament during the division I era for Stony Brook. The Seawolves have recorded three WNIT appearances, two WBI appearances (2015, 2016), and one NCAA Tournament appearance (2021).
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DEETS: The 18 points scored by Pagan marked the seventh time this season the forward has scored 18 or more points. Pagan currently leads the Seawolves in games finished in double-digits as she has recorded double figures in 19 games this season. Anastasia Warren follows closely behind the Connecticut native recording 17 games this season in double-digits.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS: The Rams fell to Dayton, 59-48, on Saturday, March 5, in Wilmington, Del. in the Atlantic 10 Championship game. With the loss, VCU dropped to 15-11 (9-5 A10) on the season and did not advance to the NCAA Tournament. VCU's scoring offense is led by graduate guard Taya Robinson. Robinson leads the scoring for the Rams averaging 16.1 points over 25 starts. Sophomore guard Sarah Te-Biasu follows behind Robinson averaging 12.9 points over 26 games (25 starts). Head coach Beth O'Boyle is in her eighth year at the helm of VCU. O'Boyle led the Rams to the 2018-19 Regular Season Co-Championship and 2021 Atlantic 10 Championships, the only conference championships in program history. VCU won the 2021 conference championship and made their second all-time appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.