Klupenger went 4-for-6 from three as the Seawolves (4-10, 1-0 AE) won their third straight game and defeated Vermont for the first time since 2006-07. Vermont entered the contest as the highest scoring offense in the America East but the Seawolves held them over 15 points below their scoring average.
Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) added 11 points and junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with six points and nine rebounds. The three-game winning streak is Stony Brook’s first since 2008-09 and it was their first win in their last six America East openers.
Vermont led 27-25 with 12:30 to go in the game but Davis hit two free throws to tie the game and junior Taylor Burner (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) followed with an inside hoop to give SBU the lead. Klupenger hit two more free throws to push the Stony Brook lead to 32-28 with 9:21 remaining.
Another Burner hoop gave Stony Brook a 34-29 lead and junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) dished off to senior Destiny Jacobs (Glen Burnie, Md.) for an easy basket to give the Seawolves a six-point lead with 5:30 left.
UVM cut the SBU lead to 36-33 with just over three minutes left but Previlon answered with an easy bucket on the other end and Klupenger followed with two free to push the Stony Brook lead to seven.
Sam Simononis hit a three for Vermont to make it 40-36 but Klupenger responded with another three to make it 43-36 with 2:08 remaining. Kayla Burchill hit another Vermont three to bring Vermont within four with 1:39 to go but Klupenger hit two free throws on the other end to make it 45-39.
Davis hit two more free throws to make it 47-39 but UVM scored five of the next six points to close within four again. But freshman Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore.) hit one of two freebies with 50 seconds left and Stony Brook then forced a Vermont miss on the other end to seal the victory.
SBU jumped to an 11-7 advantage midway through the first half as Vermont missed 11 of its first 14 shots. Both teams struggled to score over the next several minutes with Stony Brook holding a slim 13-10 lead with just under four minutes to go.
Lauren Buschmann hit one of two free throws with 3:48 left to break an over five minute Vermont drought but Klupenger banked in a three from the right wing to give SBU a 16-11 lead.
Klupenger drilled her third three of the half with just under a minute left and Davis followed with a long jumper with 19 seconds to go as SBU carried a 21-14 lead into halftime.
Stony Brook scored 10 points of nine Vermont turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and had 12 second chance points. SBU also forced UVM to shoot just 21.7 percent from the field.
Gatling hit two free throws a minute into the second half to push the SBU lead to nine but UVM went on a 13-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to take a 27-25 advantage.
The Seawolves return to action on Thursday, hosting Binghamton at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
