PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Stony Brook women's basketball team won its third ever game against a Big Ten opponent today as they took an early lead against Rutgers and never let up en route to a 71-54 victory at Jersey Mike's Arena.
The Seawolves got a pair of 20-point performances today as Janay Brantley paced the team with 23 points, followed closely by Caitlin Frost with 21. Frost also had a double-double as she led Stony Brook with 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Brantley's three steals were the most on the team.
Also in double figures was Chloe Oliver with 10 points. Sandra Frau Garcia helped facilitate the offense with a team-high five assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After an opening layup from Melissa Mwanza and four points from Brantley, the Seawolves defense completely shut down the Scarlet Knights for most of the first quarter as they soon found themselves leading 6-1 with under four minutes to play. Rutgers missed its first nine shots of the day, all while turning it over three times. Though Rutgers was able to briefly pull ahead with 1:40 left at 11-8, the Seawolves scored seven points inside of the final two minutes, including five more from Brantley, to take a 15-14 lead at the end of the quarter.
Brantley stayed hot with three more points in the opening minute of the second quarter. Rutgers managed to pull within one multiple times over the next few minutes, but buckets from Diaka Berete, Frost, and Oliver helped keep the Seawolves on top for much of the quarter. With a minute left, The Scarlet Knights did manage to tie the game at 30-30, only for a free throw from Brantley and a layup from Alex Brown set it to halftime with Stony Brook in front 33-30.
It was all Seawolves in the first three minutes of the third quarter as Frost had her first triple, as well as three from the line, followed by a layup from Alonna Sellers to 11-straight points for Stony Brook and to give them an 11-point lead at 41-30. Another five points from Frost and Brantley grew the lead to 12 at 46-34 with 4:22 on the clock. Stony Brook would only score four more points off four free throws in the quarter as the Scarlet Knights scored 11 to cut the lead to 50-45.
Rutgers' momentum quickly ran out, however, as the Seawolves retook control of the court in the fourth quarter as the top duo of Frost and Brantley added nine points in the first four minutes to regrow the lead to 12 at 59-47. After two from the line from Frau-Garcia and a layup from Oliver, Frost knocked down another three-pointer at 3:03 to give the Seawolves their largest lead yet at 66-47 and effectively putting the game out of reach.
STATS AND NOTES
- The Seawolves edged out the Scarlet Knights 22 to seven on second chance points today.
- Stony Brook converted 19 Rutger's turnovers into 22 points vs. just 11 points off turnovers for the opposition.
- Stony Brook had 50% more rebounds than Rutgers, besting them 45 to 30. This included 22 offense rebounds for the Seawolves vs. just seven for the Scarlet Knights.
- Brantley and Frost accounted for 44 of Stony Brook's 71 points, including four of the team's five three-pointers.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook continues its time on the road next week as the Seawolves head to the Bronx to take on Fordham on Wednesday, November 12, at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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