HARRISONBURG, Va. – Stony Brook women's basketball grabbed the lead and pulled away in the fourth quarter, taking down No. 1 seed James Madison in an 81-70 final in the first round of the 2024 Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Thursday.
Stony Brook improved to 28-4 overall on the season while JMU finished at 23-12.
The Seawolves were led by
Gigi Gonzalez, who finished with 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting.
Zaida Gonzalez added 20 points on a 7-for-13 clip, including 4-for-4 from three.
Shamarla King added 17 on 4-for-7 from the field. G. Gonzalez led on the assist board with three while King,
Sherese Pittman and
Victoria Keenan each had two.
King and Pittman totaled nine rebounds to lead the Seawolves while
Khari Clark grabbed eight. Z. Gonzalez, Keenan and
Janay Brantley each added two steals defensively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
An early run gave Stony Brook an 8-3 lead at the 6:29 mark in the first. The Dukes responded, scoring 13 of the next 17 points to take a 16-12 lead with 35 seconds left, before Clark hit the final bucket of the period finish things at 16-14. G. Gonzalez and Z. Gonzalez each had five points in the opening period.
A 6-0 run over 48 seconds gave Stony Brook a 20-18 lead at the 7:09 mark of the second. From that point on, there were three ties and four lead changes, with no team leading by more than four the rest of the period. A late G. Gonzalez layup pushed Stony Brook ahead 37-35 going into halftime, accounting for the final two of her nine points in the quarter. Keenan and King each contributed six points while Pittman grabbed four defensive rebounds. The Seawolves got 14 bench points and 14 points in the paint in the quarter.
SBU held six-point leads twice in the third, first at the 9:10 mark (41-35) and again at the 5:35 mark (50-44). An ensuing 7-0 run over 1:18 gave JMU its first lead of the half at 51-50 with 3:53 left in the quarter. The Seawolves took three separate leads the rest of the quarter, but the Dukes tied things at 59 with an and-one. Z. Gonzalez scored 11 points in the period on 4-for-7 shooting.
Stony Brook outscored the Dukes 12-4 in the first 3:32 to grab a 71-63 lead and take the lead for good. A three put JMU within 75-70 at the 2:45 mark, but JMU did not score the rest of the way, as SBU closed out the game with the final six points. King scored 11 of SBU's 22 points in the period, with G. Gonzalez adding seven. More details to come.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook earned its first-ever national postseason win with Thursday's victory.
- The Seawolves doubled up the Dukes by a 22-11 margin in the fourth quarter.
- There were nine ties and 13 lead changes in Thursday's contest.
- The Seawolves out-scored the Dukes 25-5 on the fast break.
- Stony Brook enjoyed 28:16 of lead time compared to just 8:30 for JMU.
- G. Gonzalez scored her second-most points this season, only behind a 30-point effort against Towson on Jan. 12, and marked her seventh 20-point game this season.
- Z. Gonzalez notched her second game with at least 20 points this year.
- King set a season high with her 17 points on Thursday.
- Pittman marked her ninth game with at least nine rebounds this season while King notched her eighth such instance.
- The Seawolves' 28 victories ties the 2019-20 team for the most in a season in program history.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
UP NEXT
Stony Brook heads to Champaign, Ill. To take on Illinois (15-15) on Sunday, March 24 at the State Farm Center, with a time to be announced. Illinois defeated Missouri State 74-69 in the first round on Thursday. The Seawolves and Fighting Illini will mark their first all-time meeting on Sunday.
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram.
