Stony Brook began play in the 1969–70 season at the Division III level. The program advanced to Division II beginning in the 1995–96 year, and fully transitioned to Division I in 1999 with Trish Roberts as head coach. Stony Brook played as a Division I independent for its first two seasons before joining the America East in 2001. In Stony Brook's first season in the America East, the Seawolves finished in seventh place during the conference regular season but defeated Boston University in the quarterfinals and New Hampshire in the semifinals of the America East Tournament to advance to the championship game. Stony Brook almost reached the NCAA Tournament in its first season in the America East, but could not hold on to a five-point lead with four minutes remaining and fell to Hartford 50–47. Roberts failed to reach double-digit victories in her next two seasons and resigned on August 25, 2004 to tend to family issues. Sacramento Monarchs assistant Maura McHugh was named interim head coach on September 10 and promoted to full-time head coach on April 26, 2005 after an 8–20 season. In McHugh's second season, Stony Brook won 20 games for the first time in program history and finished a program-best second place in the regular season. On December 2, 2005, Stony Brook played #19 Temple, its first ranked opponent in program history, and pulled the 58–56 upset. The Seawolves fell to Boston University in OT of the America East semifinals but qualified for the WNIT, where they lost to Hofstra in the program's first-ever postseason appearance. After another second-place finish in the conference regular season in 2006–07 at 14–2, the Seawolves were upset by UMBC in the quarterfinals and McHugh resigned three months later. McHugh's assistant Michele Cherry was named her successor, but Cherry suffered three straight 20-loss seasons and was on course for a fourth before she resigned in the middle of the 2010–11 campaign, leading assistant Evelyn Thompson to handle head coaching duties for the remainder of the season. On April 7, 2011, Canisiusassociate head coach Beth O'Boyle was named Stony Brook's fourth Division I head coach. O'Boyle posted a dismal 4–26 record in her first season but saw a 10-win improvement the next year and another 10-win improvement the year after. The 2013–14 season saw O'Boyle and the Seawolves break the program record for most single-season Division I wins with 24. Stony Brook returned to the America East Championship for the first time since 2002, but were blown out 70–46 by Albany. Stony Brook qualified for the 2014 WNIT and lost to Michigan 86–48 in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines' head coach was former Stony Brook player Kim Barnes Arico. On April 28, 2014, O'Boyle resigned to accept the head coaching position at VCU. On June 15, 2014, Auburnassistant head coach Caroline McCombs was named as O'Boyle's successor. In McCombs' first two seasons, Stony Brook finished with 17 wins and in third place in the America East, earning bids to the WBI both times, losing to Siena in 2015 and Youngstown State in 2016. McCombs became the program's all-time winningest head coach on November 21, 2018 with her 67th win, surpassing Roberts. Stony Brook won its first game against a Power Five school by defeating Penn State 81–70 on November 25, 2018. Her first 20-win season came in 2018–19 but ended in the America East semifinals with a loss to Hartford. McCombs reached 100 career victories on January 2, 2020.
