SBU Sports: Women’s Basketball is victorious at Monmouth

Khari Clark scored a career-high 30 points to help lead the Stony Brook women’s basketball team over the Monmouth Hawks 78-62 on the road Feb. 4.

The Seawolves (18-2, 8-1) had three players score in double figures, led by Clark, who had 30 points and six rebounds. Sherese Pittman added 18 points and six rebounds and Gigi Gonzalez helped out with 17 points and five assists.

Stony Brook out-rebounded Monmouth 39-32, with eight different players grabbing at least one boards. Led by Clark’s four offensive rebounds, Stony Brook did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 16 second-chance points. Stony Brook’s defense also forced 20 Monmouth turnovers which turned into 24 points.

After falling behind 16-6 in the first, Stony Brook went on a 9-0 run with 2:30 left in the first quarter, highlighted by King’s five points in the stretch to narrow its deficit to 16-15 after 10 minutes.

A three from Clark at 7:45 of the second quarter gave Stony Brook its first lead at 22-20 and the Seawolves took the lead for good at 26-24, enjoying a six-point, 37-31 halftime advantage. Stony Brook scored seven of its 22 total points in the period on second-chance opportunities, pulling down three offensive rebounds. Clark was dominating in the first half by finishing 7-of-11 from the field with 17 points.

Following intermission, Stony Brook continued to expand its advantage, pushing it’s lead to 52-38 before going on a 10-0 run, punctuated by a three from Victoria Keenan, to expand its lead further to 62-38 with 2:24 to go in the third. The Seawolves won the quarter 31-12 to take a 68-43 lead after three. Stony Brook had success near the basket, scoring 16 of its 31 points in the paint.

Monmouth was able to cut the lead to 13 in the fourth, but the Seawolves ultimately cruised to the 78-62 final results. Stony Brook took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring eight of its 10 points in the paint.

“The atmosphere at Monmouth today was great,” said head coach Ashley Langford. “I love to see people supporting women’s basketball. I’m really happy with how focused we were on the defensive end. All of our players were locked into the scout and executed the game plan well.”