Women's Basketball Pulls Out 58-57 Win At Cincinnati
1/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
CINCINNATI, OHIO - A career-high 26 points from senior Heta Korpivaara (Espoo, Finland) helped the Seton Hall women's basketball team to a 58-57 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. Junior Ela Mukosiej (Bilystok, Poland) connected on a leaner in the lane with eight seconds left to give the Pirates (10-8, 2-5) the comeback victory.
Korpivaara also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double effort, the third of her career. Mukosiej racked up 15 points, while Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.) added 10.
Michelle Jones led the Bearcats (11-7, 2-4) with 14 points. Shelly Bellman recorded a double-double of her own with 12 points and 11 boards.
Korpivaara started quickly, scoring three of the team's first four buckets as the Pirates took an 8-6 lead. After Cincinnati came back to go up by two, four more Korpivaara field goals and one from Brittney Messina (Massapequa, N.Y.) gave SHU a 23-19 advantage.
The Korpivaara show continued as the senior forward connected three times in a 45 second span to give her 20 points in the half and the Pirates a 31-25 edge with 4:19 left before halftime. The Bearcats recovered to get to within 31-29 at the break.
Emery accounted for the first six SHU points out of halftime as the visitors maintained a 37-34 lead. Cincinnati finally managed to gain momentum, and with its defense keyed in on Korpivaara, the Bearcats worked their way to a 47-42 advantage with 9:09 left.
Mukosiej sparked the Pirates with a pair of baskets as part of a 6-0 run that gave SHU a one-point lead. Cincinnati responded once more, running off eight unanswered to seemingly take control with a 55-48 lead and two minutes remaining before the frantic finish.
Following two Mukosiej free throws, the Pirate press forced a turnover, and Mukosiej hit two more charity shots after being fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass. The Bearcats sank two from the foul line before Korpivaara buried a jumper to make it 57-54 with 1:13 left. After forcing a turnover with its halfcourt defense, SHU fed Korpivaara on the inside to cut the deficit to one with 17 seconds remaining. Cincinnati's Treasure Humphries stepped out of bounds as the Bearcats tried to inbound the ball, setting up Mukosiej's game winner.
A final lay-up attempt by Carla Jacobs hit high off the glass and bounded off the rim as time expired.
SHU limited Cincinnati to a 1-for-14 shooting performance from beyond the arc, off-setting a 44-30 rebounding edge for the Bearcats.
The Pirates return to action on Jan. 23 to host Providence at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised on CSTV.
