SBU Sports: Women’s basketball tops Delaware 79-67

The Stony Brook women’s basketball team fought back from a 54-52 deficit after the third quarter to beat the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, 79-67, on Jan. 14 in Newark for their ninth consecutive victory. The Seawolves improved to 4-0 in CAA play and are the last remaining undefeated team in conference play.

In the first quarter, Khari Clark and Gigi Gonzalez both tallied their 1,000th career point as they became the 20th and 21st players, respectively, in program history to reach 1,000 career points. 

The Seawolves had four players score in double figures, led by Gigi Gonzalez, who had 20 points, five assists and three steals. Victoria Keenan tacked on 17 points off the bench, going 5-of-10 from behind the arc, and Sherese Pittman chipped in as well with 12 points and five boards.

Clark pulled down four offensive rebounds to pace an offense that racked up second-chance opportunities for Stony Brook, grabbing 14 boards and turning them into eight second-chance points. Shamarla King was also disruptive on the glass, tallying 11 rebounds and also scoring 11 points, notching her second double-double of the season.

Stony Brook did a great job disrupting Delaware shots in the contest, coming away with six blocks. Clark’s four rejections led the way individually for the Seawolves.

After falling behind 10-2, Stony Brook went on a 7-0 run with 5:32 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Clark, to narrow its deficit to 10-9. Delaware answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Seawolves down 16-14 entering the second quarter.

Delaware kept adding to that lead, building a 32-23 advantage before Stony Brook went on a 7-0 run to narrow its deficit to 32-30. The Seawolves continued to chip away, reducing the Delaware lead to 34-33 heading into the break.

Stony Brook’s deficit continued to grow after halftime, and the Seawolves faced a 54-52 disadvantage heading to the fourth quarter. Stony Brook knocked down three three-pointers in the quarter to account for nine of its 19 total points.

Stony Brook managed to gain control and had a 73-67 lead before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 79-67 with two seconds to go in the contest, a score which would hold for the rest of the game. Stony Brook fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 27 points.

“I’m most proud of our mental toughness and ability to execute down the stretch,” head coach Ashley Langford said after the game. “It was a total team effort and it’s nice to see different players stepping up when we need them.”