For the third time in its last four games, the Stony Brook University women’s basketball team (8-1) had at least four student-athletes score in double figures en route to a victory.
The Seawolves knocked off Penn (4-7), 75-69, on Dec. 10 inside Island Federal Arena behind the quartet of graduate forward India Pagan, junior guard Gigi Gonzalez, senior guard Earlette Scott, and graduate forward Leighah-Amori Wool all scoring in double-digits.
Pagan led the way with a season-high 20 points on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting from the floor as she dominated down low. Gonzalez finished the game with 14 points and did a bulk of her damage in the contest in the second half as she totaled nine points over the final 20 minutes. Scott and Wool each added 10 points apiece as they helped guide the Seawolves to their eighth victory of the season.
After a back and forth first half, Stony Brook used a 12-0 scoring run that carried over from the first half into the second to build its lead. The Seawolves were able to go ahead, 43-36, at the conclusion of the scoring spurt. Following that run, Stony Brook never looked back as it led for the remainder of the contest and secured its conference leading eighth win of the season.
The Seawolves’ lead grew to as large as 13 points in the fourth quarter as Gonzalez gave Stony Brook its biggest advantage of the game as she converted a driving layup with 6:35 to play. Penn responded and got within five points of the lead with 4:52 to play in the game, but the Seawolves were able to fend off the Quakers’ come-from-behind attempt.
“I’m proud of how we found a way to win – we were resilient today. We’ve had a lot of moving pieces and parts; I’m really glad that they locked in for 40 minutes and were able to be resilient, kept fighting, and found a way. I’m pleased to get a win right before we go on a long break. Overall, I’m just proud of the way they keep being resilient, growing, and pushing through all the adversity that we had,” said head coach Ashley Langford.
