Women's Basketball Wins Sixth Straight, 79-74 Over UMass
12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
AMHERST, Mass. The Seton Hall women’s basketball team pushed its winning streak to six on Monday with a 79-74 win at Massachusetts. Sophomore Ebonie Williams (Hagerstown, Md.) led the way with 23 points for the Pirates (10-1). Junior Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.) had 22 points and eight rebounds, while senior Noteisha Womack (Washington, D.C.) chipped in 13 points against the Minutewomen (6-6). The Pirates got off to a fast start, taking an 8-4 lead after Williams’ second 3-pointer of the game with 18:29 left. Womack scored nine early points, including a 17-foot jumper at the 12:30 mark to cap an 8-0 run that gave the Hall a 22-11 advantage. Consecutive 3-pointers by Kim Benton put the finishing touches on an 11-2 spurt by UMass, bringing the Minutewomen to within 24-22 with 8:26 on the clock. Seton Hall immediately regrouped and ran off 11 unanswered to push the lead back into double figures at 35-22. Williams buried another trifecta with 2:26 remaining for a 38-24 edge, and the Pirates took a 42-29 advantage into halftime. UMass came out flying in the second half, scoring eight straight to start the period to get within five. Stephanie Gerardot connected at the 15:16 mark to give the Minutewomen a 46-44 lead, and her 4-point play moments later again put UMass in front, 50-48. Emery kicked off a 6-0 spurt with a jumper that put Seton Hall back ahead, 54-50, with 11:35 to go. Williams knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the day to push the lead to 61-55, and a steal and layup by junior Shantel Brown (Lakewood, N.J.) stretched the lead to eight. But Umass rallied again, scoring six in a row to make it 63-61, before twice getting to within one as the clock moved under four minutes. Emery and Womack scored back-to-back buckets as the Hall took went up by five, but Sakera Young made it 70-67 with a transition jumper at the 1:25 mark. Williams hit two free throws for the Pirates with 56 seconds left, and the Minutewomen could get no closer than three the rest of the way as Seton Hall hung on for the win. The Pirates host Norfolk State on Dec. 31 at 1:00 p.m.
