Fairfield, Conn. – Stony Brook University’s women’s basketball team fell to the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 55-33, on Wednesday night at the Pitt Center. It was the second straight loss for the Seawolves.
“We competed hard but just didn’t execute the way we need to on the offensive end of the court,” Stony Brook head coach Beth O’Boyle said. “But we’ll come out and practice hard tomorrow and get ready for a good Rider team next Tuesday.”
Junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) led Stony Brook as she matched a career-high with 10 points and junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with five points and nine rebounds. Callan Taylor paced Sacred Heart with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Sacred Heart started the game strong; hitting five of its first seven shots to take a 16-4 lead six minutes in. The Seawolves held the Pioneers without a field goal over the next five and a half minutes but still trailed 18-5 with nine minutes to go in the half.
Gatling gave the Seawolves a much needed lift off the bench though, scoring six points over the next two minutes as SBU cut the Sacred Heart lead to 25-13 with six minutes remaining. The teams traded hoops over the next five minutes but SHU scored the final five points of the half and took a 32-15 lead into the break.
Sacred Heart shot 46.4 percent over the opening 20 minutes and scored 10 points off nine Stony Brook turnovers. The Pioneers also had a 21-15 rebounding edge.
Gatling continued her strong play to start the second half, hitting a long jumper to answer an early Sacred Heart hoop. But the Pioneers scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 40-19 lead with 14:11 left.
Sacred Heart pushed its lead to as many as 25 and Stony Brook got no closer than 19 the rest of the way. It was the fifth win in six games for the Pioneers.
Stony Brook returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to take on Rider. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
