The Stony Brook Seawolves needed another win over the Maine Black Bears Sunday afternoon to clinch the #1 seed in the upcoming America East women’s basketball playoffs. But Maine wasn’t about to let that happen. The guests outscored the Seawolves 24-10 in the fourth quarter, rallying from an early 16 point deficit for a 54-49 win at Island Federal Credit Union Arena in Stony Brook, NY.
Maine (15-2, 12-2 America East) got off a very tough start, trailing 15-4 after one quarter their lowest output of any quarter this season, and falling down 23-7 halfway through the second. The Black Bears despite just 27% shooting would score nine of the final 10 points and cut it to 24-16 at halftime. The guests still weren’t able to get the Stony Brook advantage inside of seven points in the third quarter. They had a chance near the end of the period to slice it to four or five, but a turnover and layup by Jonae Cox pushed it back to 39-30 Seawolves headed to the fourth. The Black Bears kept fighting, and an 11-0 run gave them their first lead of the day when Maeve Carroll hit two free throws with 4:51 left. The lead would go to their biggest of the day of six, both on shots from Carroll in the last 2:20. The hosts would get a three-pointer by Hailey Zeise to make it 52-49 with 1:04 remaining, and after a Maine turnover they had two chances to tie it in the final 32 seconds. Zeise and Anastasia Warren both missed three-point attempts, and then Blanca Millan iced it with two free throws in the final seconds.
Millan led the way for Maine in the win with 17 points (11 in fourth quarter) five rebounds, and six steals. She moved into third place on the all-time list for most three-point field goals made at the school, and has scored in double figures in all 17 games this season. Carroll finished with 16 points (10 in fourth quarter) eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Dor Saar had eight points, and Fanny Wadling added six points and six rebounds. Both teams were over their season average on turnovers (Maine 16, Stony Brook 19), but the Black Bears won the points off turnovers battle 16-9. After a 3-21 start from the floor (14%), they finished at 38% (50% for the entire second half, 9-14 (64%) in the fourth quarter). India Pagan led Stony Brook in the loss with 12 points. Asiah Daigle had 10 points, five assists, but also seven turnovers. The Seawolves had their six game win streak snapped, falling to 11-5 overall and 9-3 in America East. Maine now has the upper hand to clinch the regular season conference title and the #1 seed for the playoffs with a win over UNH in the regular season finale at Memorial Gym in Orono next Saturday at 5 p.m.
