PHILADELPHIA, PA. --The Stony Brook women's basketball team rallied from an 19-point deficit at 40-21 with 5:36 left in the third quarter to ultimately knock off the Drexel Dragons 60-58 on the road Friday evening.
The Seawolves (22-3, 13-2 CAA) had three players score in double figures, led by
Sherese Pittman, who had 22 points, including 20 of those points in the second half and also tallied eight rebounds, three steals and four blocks.
Victoria Keenan tacked on 11 points off the bench and
Shamarla King chipped in as well with 10 points and two blocks off the bench.
Stony Brook had the ball moving throughout Friday's game, racking up 15 assists on 20 made field goals. Individually, Gigi Gonzalez led the way for the squad with six assists.
Defensively, the Seawolves did a great job disrupting Drexel shots in the contest, coming away with eight blocks, which matched the season-high for the Seawolves. Pittman's four rejections paced the way individually for the Seawolves, a new career-high for the forward.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Seawolves scored the first bucket of the game from a Zaida Gonzalez three-pointer and took a 5-4 lead following the layup from Khari Clark, the Dragons would take control by going up 17-10 heading into the second quarter. Z. Gonzalez scored five of the 10 points in the quarter.
The Dragons continued to put the pressure on the team by taking a 10-point lead into the break, 29-19. King, G. Gonzalez, Z. Gonzalez and Pittman all tallied a bucket in the second quarter. But, the Seawolves found success on the defensive end by allowing 12 points, the fewest of any quarter in the game for Drexel.
Drexel continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 42-29 advantage before Stony Brook went on an 8-0 run, punctuated by a three from Pittman, to trim its deficit to 42-37 with zero seconds to go in the third, a score which remained until the end of the third quarter. Stony Brook knocked down three three-pointers in the quarter to score nine of its 18 total points led by two from Keenan and one from Pittman.
The squad rallied in the game's final frame, outscoring Drexel 23-16 and overtaking the Dragons for good on a Khari Clark free throw with 00:25 left to grab the 60-58 victory. Stony Brook took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring 14 of its 23 points in the paint. Pittman dominated the Dragons in the quarter by tallying 15 of the 23 points for Stony Brook on 6-of7 shooting, tallying two assists and two steals.
STATS AND NOTES
- The Seawolves rallied from a five-point 42-37 third quarter deficit to pick up the win.
- Stony Brook rallied from a 10-point 29-19 halftime deficit to pick up the win.
- The Seawolves held the Dragons to only 38.6 percent shooting from the field.
- The Seawolves put on a passing clinic, recording an assist on 75 percent of made field goals.
- The Stony Brook bench made an impact by scoring 21 points to its scoring output. Victoria Keenan and Shamarla King came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively.
- Stony Brook had a 33-30 edge on the boards in the win.
- Drexel had 24 turnovers, the most of any opponent the season against the Seawolves.
- The Seawolves were active in affecting shots on the defensive end, tallying eight blocks as a team, which tied a season-high (eight vs Buffalo on Dec. 2, 2023)
- Sherese Pittman led the Seawolves with a game-high 22 points and team-high eight rebounds. It's just the fourth time in her Stony Brook career that Pittman grabbed at least eight rebounds and tallied 20 points.
- Gonzalez led the way with six assists. It was the third time in the last four games that she tallied at least six dimes.
- The 19-point comeback marked the largest comeback victory of the season.
- Stony Brook is 2-0 this season against Drexel and 2-2 all-time.
- The Seawolves are 10-2 on the road this season.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I'm really proud of our effort in the second half," head coach Ashley Langford said after the victory over Drexel. "We kept fighting and executed offensively down the stretch."
UP NEXT
The Seawolves will return to the court on Sunday for their final home game of the regular season. The Seawolves will being holding their annual "Senior Day Ceremony", where the squad will honor Khari Clark and Gigi Gonzalez. Also, come support "Play4Kay" as we will be wearing pink attire to honor and bring awareness to the foundation for our annual "Play4Kay" game. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. and can be streamed live on SNY or FloSports.
