For the third time this season, third-year guard Sigi Koizar broke the 30-point plateau, as she lifted the women’s basketball team over Stony Brook on Saturday. The 60-43 road victory now gives the Black Bears 10 consecutive wins as they near the end of the regular season.
Their one and only contest of the week now raises Maine up to 22-7 on the year, while improving their record within the America East to 13-1. The loss brings Stony Brook stumbling down to 16-12 overall, with an average 8-7 mark within conference matchups.
In the game, Koizar was electric for the Black Bears while going 13-19 on shots. In addition to her 30 points, she added seven defensive rebounds and four assists. There was a large gap in scoring from there as fourth-year forward Mikaela Gustafsson was second on the team in scoring with eight points, along with six rebounds and two assists. Though she only hit a single attempt from the three-point line, fourth-year forward Liz Wood gave the team seven rebounds and four assists.
Maine shot far more accurately throughout the contest. On shots, Maine ended the day by hitting 26-50 and getting points 52 percent of the time. On the other hand, Stony Brook hit 17-53 attempts, while only reaching the net 32.1 percent of the time. The differences were also staggering from the three-point line. The Black Bears went 6-11 on their three-point tries, while the Seawolves only made 2-13 in the contest.
In the first quarter, points were hard to come by for each team. Koizar hit a jump shot to give the Black Bears the first few points. Despite this, Maine failed to put any significant distance on the scoreboard. In the final three seconds, Koizar hit a layup to give Maine the 6-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Koizar stepped up for Maine in the second half by putting up nine points. She hit three layups, a jump shot and a free throw, as Stony Brook struggled to slow her down. As the quarter came to a close, the Black Bears outscored the Seawolves 16-14, giving Maine the 22-19 advantage heading into halftime.
The Black Bears managed to pull ahead in the third quarter due to a trio of solid performers. Gustafsson hit three layups and fourth-year guard Sophie Weckstrom sunk two three-pointers as both players put up six points. With another seven points from Koizar, the Black Bears climbed up to 41-30 heading into the final 10 minutes of playing time.
Fourth-year forward Brittany Snow did all she could to keep the Seawolves from losing as she gave the team seven points in the final five minutes. However, Koizar again managed to put up 10 points, clinching the game for Maine. With a three-pointer halfway through the period, Koizar put the Black Bears up by 18, marking their largest lead of the game. With no way to climb back, Stony Brook watched helplessly as Maine held on to win it 60-43.
For Stony Brook, Snow stood out as the team’s biggest impact performer. She went 8-15 on shots and put up a total of 19 points, while also adding five rebounds and three assists. Though she spent a significant portion of the game on the sideline, first-year forward Ogechi Anyagaligbo led the game with eight rebounds, which helped the Seawolves stay competitive.
The Black Bears will look to keep their momentum going next week as they hit the road to face Hartford on Wednesday, Feb. 20 before they close out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27 when they host Binghamton on senior day.
