Feb. 5, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - I would like to start off this newsletter by thanking all of our fans, alums and loyal supporters who have made generous donations to our program. Your contributions are vital to the success of our program and I can assure that you that every dollar is put to good use. And, as some of you know, we are currently building a new state-of-the-art locker room and many of the contributions we receive will help towards that effort. We cannot wait to show you what you have helped us build - it will be one of the finest locker rooms in the nation and will help us to compete for the best recruits. Again, thank you so much for your support.

As for our team, 2008 has not started off quite like we had hoped it would. We opened America East play at home against Vermont on January 5th and despite a strong second half, we suffered our first conference loss. We bounced back later in the month against Maine as seniors Aly Young (Lodi, Calif./Tokay) and Dana Ferraro (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) combined to score 42 points and grab 16 rebounds in the win. One of several encouraging traits of our team is that we battle hard which will serve us well for the rigors of the conference schedule. Ferraro has been outstanding all year long and now leads the conference in rebounds at 9.1 per game. In addition, our young players have earned valuable experience that will help keep our future bright! In particular, freshman Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) has started the last 13 games and recently poured in a career-high 17 points against first-place Hartford.

As we head into February, we look forward to the rest of the conference season as we battle for playoff position in the America East tournament. We have several exciting home games in the next few weeks, including "Think Pink" Night on February 13 when we take on defending conference champ UMBC. That night we are asking all of our fans to wear PINK as part of a nationwide effort spearheaded by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to raise awareness for breast cancer. All fans in attendance wearing PINK will receive 1/2 price admission and a portion of the proceeds from the evening's events will go to breast cancer patients. It should be a terrific evening and we hope you will come out, wear PINK and cheer us on to victory. Toward the end of the month, the Athletics Department will be hosting our annual National Girls and Women's Sports Day Youth Clinic for all boys and girls ages 6-11. Stony Brook student-athletes will organize the clinic prior to our 2:00pm game on Saturday, February 23rd against the University at Albany. All kids attending the clinic will be instructed by Stony Brook athletes from all of our teams, receive a free t-shirt and goodie bag, have lunch and receive a free ticket to attend our game. Space is limited for the clinic so please contact Jordan Vardell at john.vardell@stonybrook.edu. We would love to see as many kids as possible come out for this fun event.

For those of you interested in taking a road trip to the conference tournament this year, please note that the America East tournament will be held March 13-16 at the University of Hartford. If you would like information on how to purchase tickets for the tournament, please call our ticket office at 631-632-WOLF.

Once again, thank you for all of your support. Until next time...Go Seawolves!