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SYRACUSE, N.Y. The Seton Hall women’s basketball team evened its BIG EAST record with a tough 70-66 win over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night.
Six Pirates (13-3, 2-2) scored in double figures, led by junior Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.) with 14. Senior Noteisha Womack (Washington, D.C.) added 11 points and eight rebounds. Junior Shantel Brown (Lakewood, N.J.) totaled 11 points and nine assists, while freshman Whitney Wood (Santa Margarita, Calif.) netted a career-high 10 points off the bench.
Nicole Michael led the Orange (13-4, 2-2) with 22 points.
A 3-pointer by senior Jadis Rhodin (Lakehurst, N.J) highlighted a 7-0 run by Seton Hall to start the game. Consecutive scores by Emery and a basket off a steal by Brown made it 14-4 with 14 minutes left.
Womack completed a 3-point play to give the Hall a 19-7 edge with 12:14 showing. Syracuse got to within five before Emery continued her big first half with a 17-foot jumper to give the Pirates a 25-18 advantage at the 8:12 mark.
After a trey from Brown and a layup from freshman Kandice Green (Baltimore, Md.) gave the Hall a nine-point lead, the Orange ran off six in a row to get to within 30-27 with three and a half minutes left. Wood drained a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws as the half wound down to help the Pirates to a 37-31 lead at the break.
After shooting 60.0 percent in the first half, the Hall stayed hot early in the second. Sophomore Ebonie Williams (Hagerstown, Md.) drained a pair from beyond the arc as the Pirates pushed out to a 51-40 lead after four minutes of play. Her driving layup with 12:38 left made it 56-46 and forced a Syracuse timeout.
Emery connected from the wing on the Hall’s next possession, followed by an Orange turnover and layup for Brown as the lead reached 14. The Pirates took their largest lead of the game when Brown converted a tough fast break basket with 10:22 left, making it 62-46.
A 13-3 run by Syracuse over the next five and a half minutes cut Seton Hall’s lead to 65-59 with 4:51 on the clock. Rhodin made a free throw to briefly stem the tide, but the Orange ran off the next seven, tying the game on Michael’s layup off a deflection with 2:12 to go.
Emery put the Pirates back in front with a free throw with 1:40 left, and the teams traded turnovers and missed shots until the Orange came up with a steal and called timeout with 25.8 seconds to go, trailing 67-66. Rhodin stripped Erica Morrow, and the Hall took possession after the ball was tied up with 13.6 seconds showing. Williams was fouled on the inbounds and calmly sank both ends of a 1-and-1, followed by a Syracuse timeout with the ball at halfcourt and 7.7 seconds remaining. Morrow’s 3-point attempt was no good, and Rhodin secured the rebound before hitting 1-of-2 free throws with less than a second remaining to seal the victory.
The Hall finished the game at 52.0 percent from the field while limiting Syracuse to 40.0 percent. The Orange held a 37-34 advantage on the glass.
The Pirates are back in action at Cincinnati on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
