Seton Hall University
Mount St. Mary's
WBB Falls to Mount St. Mary's 74-64
12/16/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Senior forward Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe) matched her career-high with 12 points and also pulled down eight rebounds with two blocks and two steals, and sophomore guard Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) filled out the stat sheet in typical fashion with eight points, a career-high 12 rebounds, and five assists.
Seton Hall was dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Mountaineers by a total of 43-25, and that advantage turned into substantial scoring margins in the Pirates' favor both in the paint (34-10) and in second chance opportunities (20-5).
However, Mount St. Mary's (4-4) made up for that disadvantage with strong outside shooting. The Mountaineers finished the game shooting 54.2 percent from three-point range, knocking down 13 threes in the game and shooting 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from three in the first half.
Behind a couple of baskets for Maseko the Pirates grabbed an early 9-3 advantage that Mount St. Mary's erased with a pair of Sydney Henderson three-pointers, tying the score at 11-11.
Seton Hall answered that charge with a 10-2 run as Simmons knocked down two treys and Maseko found freshman Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) for a floater in the paint to give The Hall its largest lead of the game, 21-13.
The Mountaineers charged right back and used a 13-0 run to take an eight point lead of their own, 31-23, as Henderson converted yet another long-range bucket, The Mount's seventh of the opening half.
The see-saw battle continued as the Pirates pulled within one point, 31-30, on a Brown jump shot with just over a minute to play in the opening period, only Mount St. Mary's hit threes on its last two possession of the period to take a seven point lead into the half.
Seton Hall required fewer than seven minutes of the second half to come all the way back an retake the lead. Down by six points Brown pulled down an offensive rebound and went back up and in to pull SHU within four, 36-40, with 16:34 to play, and senior Brittany Morris (Raleigh, N.C.) intercepted a pass on Mount St. Mary's next possession and converted a three-point play on the other end to pull the Pirates within one.
Just two minutes later senior Terry Green (Brentwood, N.Y.) stole a pass along the sideline and flew down the court to give Seton Hall a 41-40 lead, its first of the second half, and she buried a three pointer at the 12:16 mark to put her team in front by three.
The game turned over the next five minutes as Mount St. Mary's used its second 13-0 run of the game to move ahead by 10 points, capping the run with a Henderson three-pointer with just under eight minutes remaining.
Simmons put an end to The Mount's offensive surge, scoring on consecutive Seton Hall possession to make it a six-point game, 58-52. Twice the Pirates were able to pull within five, first as Green knocked down her second three of the game and again as Simmons hit a lay-up with 3:09 remaining, but that was as far as Seton Hall was able to cut the margin.
Henderson led all scorers with 27 points and Jessie Kaufman scored 16 points while Selina Mann finished with 10 points for the Mountaineers.
Seton Hall (3-7) returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 19, when it hosts the University of New Orleans in Walsh Gymnasium. The weekday matinee is set for tipoff at 1 p.m.
