STONY BROOK, N.Y. --The Stony Brook women's basketball team opened up their 2024-25 home slate on Thursday evening as head coach Joy McCorvey earned her first career win, leading the Seawolves to a 53-43 victory over Le Moyne on their home court.
Zaida Gonzalez led the squad with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Janay Brantley had an all-around performance tacking on five points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals and
Lauren Filien chipped in with eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Led by
Dallysshya Moreno's six offensive rebounds, Stony Brook did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 19 boards that resulted in 12 second chance points. The Seawolves' defense held Le Moyne shooters to only 27.9 percent from the field, including 20 percent from three-point range. Stony Brook also kept the Dolphins' Haedyn Roberts to 5-of-19 shooting in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stony Brook broke the ice by going on an 8-0 scoring run, culminating in a three from Brantley, to take an early lead with 7:03 left in the first quarter. The Seawolves then maintained that lead and entered the quarter break with a 14-6 advantage. Stony Brook relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down two shots to account for six of its 14 points.
Stony Brook kept its first quarter lead intact before going on a 7-0 run starting at the 2:32 mark in the second period to increase its lead to 25-14. The Dolphins cut into that lead, but the Seawolves still enjoyed a 26-16 advantage heading into halftime. Stony Brook saw non-starters score four of its 12 total points off the bench in the quarter.
After intermission, Le Moyne found some momentum behind17 points to cut the Stony Brook lead to only 36-33. The Dolphins proceeded to take a 39-36 lead in the fourth quarter before Stony Brook went on a 9-0 run, finished off by
Shamarla King's layup, to seize a 45-39 lead with 3:32 to go in the contest. The Seawolves kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 53-43 win. Stony Brook took advantage of five Le Moyne turnovers in the quarter, scoring seven points off of those takeaways.
STATS AND NOTES
- Head coach Joy McCorvey notched her first career victory with the Seawolves in the 53-43 win.
- Stony Brook goes 5-1 all-time against Le Moyne, earning five straight wins dating back to 1996.
- The Seawolves held a 47-45 advantage in rebounds in the win, cleaning up on the offensive glass, collecting 19 offensive boards in the game while adding 28 rebounds on the defensive end.
- Defensively, the Seawolves held the Dolphins to only 27.9 percent shooting from the field, 20 percent from beyond the arc on 20 attempts, and forced 16 Le Moyne turnovers.
- Zaida Gonzalez led all scorers with a game-high 20 points and added eight boards to her totals through 35 minutes of play.
- Janay Brantley had a stellar all-around performance, scoring five points and collecting eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
- Dallysshya Moreno provided a spark for the team, grabbing a career-high 10 boards in just the first half alone. She tallied four points and one steal to go along with a career night.
- Stony Brook scored 15 points off turnovers, 18 points in the paint, and 12 second chance points.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I'm really proud of the team's resiliency and the growth that we showed with such a quick turnaround after our game against Columbia," stated head coach Joy McCorvey postgame. "We took a lot of teaching and learning moments from that game [Columbia] and I definitely saw some of that in tonight's game. We've talked a lot about our effort and as we continue to define who we want to be as a team, we always want to be on the defensive end and that comes with resiliency and a dawg mentality. Tonight, they did just that. Shots weren't falling for us, but they never wavered from what truly matters to our team and doing it on the defensive end."
NEXT UP
Stony Brook returns to the court on Friday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. across the Long Island Sound at Yale. The Seawolves have gone 4-3 all-time against the Bulldogs with an 81-66 victory last season. Coverage is available on ESPN+.
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's basketball program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
