Stony Brook, N.Y. – Junior Dani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) hit the go-ahead three with 14 seconds left as the Stony Brook women’s basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit to knock off the Robert Morris Colonials, 42-40, on Wednesday afternoon at Pritchard Gymnasium. It was the first career win for new Stony Brook head coach Beth O’Boyle.
“What a tremendous team effort,” O’Boyle said. “We focused on doing the little things down the stretch and that put us in the position to win the game.”
Stony Brook (1-3) trailed by as many as 14 in the first half and by 10 at halftime before rallying to within 40-39 on free throw from junior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.Y.) with 34 seconds left. The Seawolves then forced a Robert Morris turnover and following a timeout, got the ball to Klupenger who drilled a three from the right wing to give Stony Brook its first lead of the game.
Josette Campbell then missed a jumper on the Colonials ensuing possession but Artemis Spanou got the rebound and was fouled with three seconds left. But Spanou missed the first free throw before missing the second on purpose and senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
The Seawolves held Robert Morris to 28.3 percent shooting for the game including 21.7 percent in the second half and held the Colonials to just three points over the final 10.42 of the contest. Named SBU’s America East Player of the Game, Klupenger led the Seawolves with 13 points while senior Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) chipped in with 11 points.
Robert Morris jumped on Stony Brook early, scoring 14 of the first 16 points of the game. The Colonials still led by 13 with 2:07 left in the first half but Klupenger hit two threes in the final two minutes to pull SBU within 10 at the break.
Stony Brook scored the first seven points of the second half to get within 25-22 but Robert Morris went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to build its lead back to 13 with just less than 11 minutes to go.
But the Stony Brook defense clamped down from there, holding the Colonials to just one field goal over the final 10 minutes of the game. The Seawolves pulled within 39-37 on two Davis free throws with 4:28 left and then got within one on the Murray free throw.
Mary Durojaye led Robert Morris with 10 points and 16 points while Campbell had 11. Junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led Stony Brook with 11 rebounds.
The Seawolves return to action on Friday, traveling to take on No. 19 Ohio State. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
