Stony Brook announced the women’s basketball conference schedule on Tuesday, offering a more complete picture of the schedule the Seawolves will face in the 2017-18 season. The team’s non-conference schedule has yet to be announced, but a partial first-half slate has been confirmed by opponents’ scheduling announcements.
Stony Brook will start off conference play on Jan. 3 at Maine and finish at Vermont on Feb. 25. There are nine teams in the America East conference for women’s basketball, therefore the 16-game conference schedule will only feature two games with six conference opponents and only one game apiece with Albany and UMBC.
“The conference has grown in parity each year,” Head Coach Caroline McCombs said in a press release Tuesday. “Each conference game has significant meaning as it is positioning your team for seeding in the conference tournament.”
The conference schedule is kind to Stony Brook, who will return home from the conference opener at Maine for a three-game home stand. Then, on Jan. 18, the team will travel upstate to Binghamton before returning home for a two-game stretch, followed by a Feb. 4 road game at Hartford and then a four-game home stand. The final two regular season games will be on the road at New Hampshire and Vermont.
The long home stretches could benefit Stony Brook, who played significantly better at home last season, posting a 7-7 record compared to a 4-9 record on the road. However, conference play did not go well for the Seawolves, finishing with a 5-11 record compared to a 7-6 record in non-conference games. Two of those conference losses did come against Albany, who they will only play once this season.
The conference tournament will begin on Feb. 27 and feature all nine teams. The eighth and ninth seeds will compete in a play-in game that will qualify the winner for the quarterfinals and semifinals on March 3 and 4, respectively. The games, hosted in Portland, Maine, will decide the two championship contenders who play for the conference title on March 9 at the home site of the highest remaining seed.
The biggest challenge for the Seawolves could be on Dec. 3 at Syracuse, a top-25 team last season that beat Stony Brook at home 78-60. Road games at Hofstra and Cornell also highlight the non-conference schedule.
“Ultimately, we want to represent our university and our conference in a first-class manner and bring this program to the NCAA Tournament,” McCombs said.
Below is a partial non-conference schedule with links to each team’s schedule announcements, followed by the complete conference schedule announced by Stony Brook on Tuesday.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Nov. 11 vs. Manhattan
Nov. 14 at Hofstra
Nov. 19 at Fairleigh Dickinson
Dec. 1 at Cornell
Dec. 3 at Syracuse
Dec. 17 vs. Central Connecticut
Dec. 14 vs. Iona
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Jan. 3 at Maine
Jan. 6 vs. Hartford
Jan. 10 vs. Albany
Jan. 13 vs. Vermont
Jan. 18 at Binghamton
Jan. 21 vs. New Hampshire
January 24th vs. UMass Lowell
Jan. 27 at Albany
Jan. 31 at UMBC
Feb. 3 at Hartford
Feb. 5 vs. Binghamton
Feb. 8 at UMass Lowell
Feb. 11 vs. Maine
Feb. 14 vs. UMBC
Feb. 17 at New Hampshire
Feb. 25 at Vermont
