Sherese Pittman scored 30 points to help lead the Stony Brook women’s basketball team over the North Carolina A&T Aggies 76-62 at home on March 3 to earn at least a share of the CAA Regular Season Championship for the first time in program history.
The Seawolves had three players score in double figures, led by Pittman, who had a career-high 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Gigi Gonzalez added 16 points and Shamarla King helped out with 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Led by Pittman’s three offensive rebounds, Stony Brook did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in 16 second chance points. The Seawolves turned 19 N.C. A&T turnovers into 20 points on the other end of the floor. Graduate Victoria Keenan led the way individually with two steals.
After falling behind 6-3, Stony Brook went on a 5-0 run that culminated with two free throws by Pittman with 6:30 left in the first quarter to take an 8-6 lead. The Seawolves then maintained that lead and entered the quarter break with an 18-16 advantage. Stony Brook capitalized on four N.C. A&T turnovers in the period, turning them into six points on the other end of the floor.
Stony Brook built that first quarter lead to 32-27 before going on a 5-0 run starting at the 1:46 mark in the second period, highlighted by a three from King, to increase its lead to 37-27. The Aggies cut into that lead, but the Seawolves still enjoyed a 37-29 advantage heading into halftime. Stony Brook forced six N.C. A&T turnovers in the period and turned them into seven points.
The Seawolves continued to preserve its halftime lead before going on a 5-0 run to expand its lead further to 58-47 with 24 seconds to go in the third after a free throw by Pittman, a score which remained until the end of the third quarter. Gonzalez was lights out during the quarter, scoring 11 points in the frame.
The squad kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Pittman’s layup, to grow the lead to 71-58 with 3:04 to go in the contest. The Seawolves kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 76-62 win. Stony Brook got a boost from its bench in the period, with non-starters scoring seven of its 18 total points, led by freshman Janay Brantley and King.
The team will return to the court on March 7 when they head to Virginia to take on Hampton at 7 p.m. and streamed live on FloHoops.
