Butina Nets Career-High, Pirates Fall To Georgia Tech

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Seton Hall women's basketball team (7-3) opened the West Palm Beach Invitational with a hard-fought 84-73 defeat to ACC foe Georgia Tech (9-2) on Thursday afternoon at Palm Beach Atlantic's Rubin Arena. Inja Butina (Zagreb, Croatia) led three Pirates in double-figures with a career-high 21 points in the setback.

The Pirates fell behind early by as many as 19 midway through the second quarter but fought back, getting as close as one point early in the third quarter. The Hall was unable to ever re-take the lead and a fast start to the fourth quarter for Georgia Tech proved to be the difference.

Butina's career-high 21 points came in her first game action since Nov. 25, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Shadeen Samuels (Ossining, N.Y.) added 16 points and seven rebounds while Nicole Jimenez (Miami, Fla.) pumped in 12 points and dished out four assists playing in her home state. For Georgia Tech, Elizabeth Balogun dropped 30 points and blocked four shots while Kierra Fletcher added an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double.

How it Happened
The Yellow Jackets took a 24-15 lead after a quarter, then opened the second frame on an 8-0 run. GT would push its lead to 36-17 midway through the second period.

The Hall answered strong and closed the second quarter on a 9-0 run, turning what was once a 19-point lead for Georgia Tech to a 41-35 halftime advantage. The Pirates would go on to out-score the Yellow Jackets, 22-20, in the third quarter and go to the final frame down by just four.

Georgia Tech answered the call in the fourth quarter by opening the frame with a 10-3 advantage to go back up double-digits. The Hall dug in and got the lead down to seven by way of a Butina three-point play with 2:08 to go, but it would never be closer the rest of the way.

Inside The Numbers

The Hall shot 40.3 percent (27-67) from the floor and 39.1 percent (9-23) from 3-point range, compared to 48.5 percent (33-68) and 46.7 percent (7-15) marks for Georgia Tech
The Pirates were +3 in turnover margin, using 11 steals to force 17 Yellow Jacket turnovers
Butina led the Pirates with four steals and Selena Philoxy (Queens, N.Y.) added three
Georgia Tech's advantages came from a 47-34 edge on the glass, leading to a 20-9 scoring margin in second chance points
The Yellow Jackets also finished with a 40-32 lead in points in the paint and an 8-0 edge in blocked shots

News and Notes

Butina became the fourth different Pirate to score more than 20 points in a game this season
The Hall has at least nine 3-pointers in all but one contest this season
Jimenez scored in double-digits for the sixth time in her last seven games
The senior also knocked down three 3-pointers – Jimenez has hit at least one triple in every contest this season and multiple trifectas on seven occasions
Philoxy led the Pirates with nine rebounds and Kaela Hilaire (Queens, N.Y.) had a game-high five assists without a turnover
All three Florida natives on the Pirate roster scored, with Femi Funeu (Plantation) and Whitney Howell (Lake Worth, Fla.) scoring six and two points, respectively
The contest was The Hall's first regular season neutral site game since Nov. 27, 2015

What's Next
The Pirates conclude their run at the West Palm Beach Invitational tomorrow night, closing non-conference play against UNC Greensboro. Tip-off from Massimino Court at Keiser University is set for 7 p.m.