The Stony Brook women’s basketball team (9-6, 3-1 CAA) battled until the final whistle on Jan. 8, but ultimately fell to the Drexel Dragons (12-3, 4-0 CAA), 81-64, inside the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, PA. The result marked the end of the Seawolves’ five-game winning streak and their three-game winning streak to begin their inaugural CAA slate.
Graduate guard Anastasia Warren and senior guard Gigi Gonzalez led the team with 18 and 13 points, respectively. Stony Brook was not able to fend off a Drexel attack that shot 32-of-58 from the field (55.2%), en route to the win.
Drexel jumped out to an early 18-9 lead midway through the first quarter as the team from Philadelphia made their first eight shots from the field. Stony Brook would tighten up on the defensive end and surrendered just two points in the final 4:27 of the first quarter.
Offensively, Gonzalez cashed in on her two free-throws and Warren made two deep three-pointers in the closing minutes of the frame to tie the game at 20-20 heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Dragons rallied and found their stroke, as Drexel outscored Stony Brook 27-8 after shooting 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the field to take a 47-28 lead heading into halftime. Despite trailing in the second half, the Seawolves were relentless on the defensive end and found their touch on the offensive side in the fourth quarter. Stony Brook outscored Drexel 26-15 in the final frame, the 26 points were tied for the second-most that the Seawolves have scored in any quarter this season.
The Seawolves knocked down eight-straight shots to cut the deficit to 16 points with 6:07 left to play to begin the final frame. Leading the charge for the Seawolves was Warren collecting eight points, including back-to-back three-pointers, and junior Kelis Corley forcing two steals that led to two buckets for the squad in the fourth.
Following a layup by sophomore forward Sherese Pittman, Stony Brook was able to cut Drexel’s lead to 74-60 with 3:04 to play, but were unable to catch the Dragons, as the host came out on top, 81-64.
“I’m proud of our resilience after a tough second quarter. I thought we battled in the second half but ultimately Drexel was the better team today. We have to learn from today’s game and keep growing,” said head coach Ashley Langford.
