Women's Basketball Falls to South Florida, 62-50

Junior Monique Blake had a double-double against South Florida, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – South Florida used a late second-half surge to beat the Seton Hall women’s basketball team 62-50 in Walsh Gym on Wednesday. The loss is the Pirates’ sixth in a row. Seton Hall is now 6-16 overall, 3-8 in the BIG EAST, while the Bulls improve to 16-8 overall, 6-4 in the conference.

The Pirates built a seven-point first half lead before falling behind just before the break. Leading 25-18, South Florida closed the first period on a 10-2 run to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room. Four different Bulls scored during the run, with Shantia Grace’s three-pointer with only 46-seconds remaining completing the comeback.

Two free-throws from freshman Monique Blake just 2:15 into the second half knotted the score 31-31. After the two teams traded points, back-to-back threes from Jessica Dickson and Grace gave the Bulls a 39-33 lead.

The resilient Pirates fought back, with Blake hitting a lay-up and sinking the ensuing free-throw on the team’s next possession. Less than a minute later freshman Brittney Messina hit one of her two three-pointers to tie the game, 39-39. Seton Hall took its first lead of the second half when junior Heta Korpivaara hit a jumper at 11:48, but the Pirates were unable to extend their lead and South Florida took command down the stretch.

With the score tied 45-45 with 8:50 remaining, the Bulls began a 10-0 run from which the Pirates were unable to recover. Dickson and Nalini Miller had four points a piece during the three minute stretch.

A lay-up from sophomore Amber Harris cut the South Florida lead to 56-49 with 3:32 remaining in the game. However, Seton Hall was never closer than seven as Dickson and Miller hit two-pointers on the Bulls’ next two possessions.

Messina led the Pirates with 14 points, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Blake recorded her fourth double-double of the year, finishing the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Six of Blake’s points and ten rebounds came in the second half of play, with Blake sitting for much of the first half after picking up two personal fouls in the first seven minutes of play.

Seton Hall shot 30.4 percent from the field, but its offensive production was marred by 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) second-half shooting.

Dickson, the BIG EAST’s leading scorer, tallied 20 points for South Florida. Grace was the only other Bull to finish the game in double-figures, netting 17 points and hitting four three-pointers. The South Florida offense came alive in the second half. After hitting only nine field goals in the first period, the Bulls were 14-of-30 from the field after the break.

Seton Hall returns to action this Sunday, Feb. 12, when it hosts Providence in Walsh Gym at 2:00 p.m.

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