SBU Sports: Women’s basketball falls to Bucknell Bisons in tough battle
The Stony Brook women’s basketball team battled tough, but was ultimately edged by Bucknell, 64-58, on Dec 3 in Sojka Pavilion in Lewisberg, PA. Graduate guard Anastasia Warren paced the Seawolves with a game-high 20 points as she recorded her third 20-point performance of the season and first since November 14, against Iona.
The Bison outlasted the Seawolves in a back-and-forth contest. The score was tied a total of 11 times and the lead changed five times. Stony Brook led 46-42 with 1:59 to play in the third quarter following a pair of free-throws by sophomore forward Sherese Pittman. Bucknell used a 10-2 run that carried over into the fourth quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish.
Stony Brook battled until the final buzzer as it cut the Bison lead to as little as three points with 22.6 seconds to play. With 22.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Warren knocked down a three-pointer off a feed from senior guard Gigi Gonzalez.
Bucknell was able to close the game out down the stretch as Tai Johnson converted three of her four free-throw attempts over the final 22.6 seconds to give the Bison a 64-58 advantage, a score it would hold on to win by.
Warren finished as the game’s leading scorer with 20 points. The guard shot 9-of-23 from the field and 2-of-8 from three-point range. She grabbed four rebounds and swiped a season-high tying three steals. It marked Warren’s third 20-point game of the season as she also scored 20 points against Manhattan on November 10 (28 points) and against Iona on November 14 (28 points). Her 23 field goal attempts were a career-high.
Graduate forward Nairimar Vargas-Reyes nearly recorded a double-double with nine points and a season-high 12 rebounds. She shot 4-of-8 from the field and six of her 12 rebounds were of the offensive variety. The forward has pulled down 10 or more rebounds in four games this season. Sophomore forward Sherese Pittman scored nine points on 3-of-10 shooting, dished out a career-high five assists, and recorded three rebounds. Graduate guard Daishai Almond scored seven points, while senior guard Gigi Gonzalez totaled five points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Stony Brook won the battle for the boards by outrebounding Bucknell, 35-31.
“Bucknell is a good team that challenged us today. We will learn from this and continue to get better,” said head coach Ashley Langford after the game.
