BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. The Seton Hall women’s basketball team saw its 14-game home winning streak come to an end on Saturday as USF came away with a 75-67 win at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates (12-4, 2-2) led by as many as 12 in the first half but could not put the Bulls (11-7, 1-4) away.
Junior Noteisha Womack (Washington, D.C.) posted her eighth double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 21 minutes. Senior Amber Harris (Washington, Pa.) added 15 points and six rebounds.
Shantia Grace led USF with 27 points, including 20 in the second half.
Four different Pirates scored out of the gate as SHU roared out to a 10-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes. The Bulls responded with an 8-2 run to stay within striking distance, but the Hall remained comfortably in front after a Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.) bucket made it 20-12 with 12:25 left in the first half.
Two jumpers by freshman Ebonie Williams (Hagerstown, Md.) sparked a 9-3 Pirates’ run that gave SHU its largest lead of the game, 29-17, with 7:52 to play. Seton Hall held a 35-26 lead when the Bulls caught fire and ran off 12 straight points to end the half, including Jazmine Sepulveda’s lay-in that made it 38-35 as time expired.
The Pirates fought back early in the second half, working their way to a 52-49 lead on a Williams jumper with 13:37 to go. Womack scored on the interior moments later to give the Hall its last lead of the day, 54-53, with 12:19 left. Grace knocked down a jumper for the Bulls before connecting on her fourth 3-pointer of the half, and Sepulveda followed with a trifecta of her own to make it 61-54 in favor of USF.
Grace’s fifth 3-pointer of the half made it 64-58 before SHU mounted a final charge. Two field goals by Emery and one from Womack cut the deficit to two, 66-64, with 3:32 remaining. The Hall closed to within two again after Williams buried a 17-footer with 1:34 to play, but Sepulveda answered with a huge 3-pointer that made it 71-66 with just over a minute left. SHU would not score again, and the Bulls hit 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
USF hit 8-of-16 from 3-point land, while Seton Hall connected on just 2-of-11 attempts. The Bulls also knocked down 17 free throws, compared to the Pirates’ nine.
The Pirates take to the road next week for a Jan. 22 game at Georgetown. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
