Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Conference Play

Albany, N.Y. – Misha Horsey netted 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds as Stony Brook rallied from 12 points down midway through the first half to defeat UAlbany, 64-56, in America East Conference women’s basketball action at SEFCU Arena on Tuesday afternoon on Commitment to Education Day. Over 500 local elementary school students attended the game.

Tiffanie Johnson scored five consecutive points to open the game for the Great Danes, who never trailed in the first half. UAlbany (3-16, AE 1-5) built its lead up to 12 points at 24-12 when Ashley Lindsay made a baseline cut and hit a jumper in the lane at the 9:54 mark.

Stony Brook (3-15, AE 1-5), which won its first road game in ten tries this season, chipped away at the Great Dane lead and closed out the opening stanza with an 11-2 run the final eight minutes. Crystal Rushin recorded consecutive baskets to pull the Seawolves within two with 1:54 left, and Horsey zinged the strings with four seconds left to send the teams to the locker rooms knotted at 28.

The Seawolves took their first lead of the game when Horsey hit a jumper from the circle on the opening possession of the second half. UAlbany scored four consecutive points to regain the lead courtesy of a turnaround jumper by Johnson and two free throws by McGee, who shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. However, the Seawolves responded with 12 consecutive points.

Tabitha Makopondo, who finished with a career-best 13 points, ended the Stony Brook run by converting a rare four-point play. After Lindsay missed a jumper, Makopondo got the rebound and put the ball back through the hoop. Due to an intentional foul on the play following the made shot, Makopondo was awarded two free throws and drained both to make it a six-point game.

UAlbany then took the ball out of bounds and Lindsay made a move in the right lane and knocked down a jumper to bring the lead down to four points, 42-38, with 13:10 left.

“I have really been trying to focus on rebounding, especially offensive rebounding,” said Makopondo, who has averaged 6.1 rebounds in conference games after grabbing just 1.9 boards in non-conference action. “We were taking good shots, but (all of us on the post) were there to give us second chances.”

Charity Iromuanya cut the Seawolf lead to just two points, 44-42, at the midway point when she took a pass from McGee and canned a jump shot from the free throw line. That was the closest the Great Danes would get the rest of the way, and Stony Brook, which shot 60.9 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, held on for its first win in conference play this season.

In addition to netting a career-best 13 points, Makopondo grabbed five offensive rebounds and eight total to lead the way for the Great Danes, while also shooting 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Johnson led all UAlbany scorers with 14 points, while Iromuanya contributed six points and a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench. Lindsay added eight points and three boards.

Horsey’s game-high 17 points came on 7-for-10 shooting, while Kirsten Jeter had 10 points and three assists and Joia Daniels contributed eight points and four assists. Rushin, who scored 11, helped Stony Brook hold a commanding 25-14 advantage in bench points.

“Our energy level was flat today, but I thought that Tabitha played very well and that Charity provided us a (good spark) off the bench,” said head coach Trina Patterson, whose team will visit Hartford on Saturday, Jan. 31, whose 32-game home winning streak ranks second in the nation behind No. 1 Connecticut. “We just did not play well again in the second half.”

For the game, the Seawolves outshot the Great Danes, 46.4 percent (26-56) to 35.8 percent (19-53) from the floor and 37.5 percent (3-8) to 7.1 percent (1-14) from behind the arc. UAlbany was able to outshoot Stony Brook 81 percent (17-21) to 69.2 percent (9-13) at the free throw line.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information