The Seton Hall women's basketball team staged a late comeback against No. 23 DePaul behind junior forward Terry Green's 19 second-half points, but fell to the Blue Demons, 71-59.
Less than six minutes into the second-half, DePaul increased its lead to 15 points, its largest of the game. But the Pirates didn't go down without a fight.
With little over 12 minutes to play, junior guard Brittany Morris passed the ball to sophomore Nicosia Henry. Henry caught the ball, threw a pump fake, and drove around her defender to the baseline for an easy two points. The Pirates were within seven points.
Next time down the floor, Green drained a 3-pointer with the shot clock almost out. The Hall was within five.
The Pirates' defense forced DePaul to turn the ball over, which Seton Hall used to execute on offense, scoring another two points by senior forward Tajay Ashmeade's putback.
A media time-out was called, but it was to no avail. The Blue Demons turned the ball over again. Senior guard Jasmine Crew drove to the left-hand baseline and scored, positioning the Pirates within one point with seven minutes left to play.
"Our energy and aggressive mindset definitely got us back into the game," assistant head coach Catherine Proto said. "We had 14 transitions points in that half. Terry Green knocked down a couple big, big three's for us, and just closed the game."
Green scored 21 points, going seven-for-seven from behind the arc, which tied a school record for the most made 3-pointers in a game. Green is also only the second player in Big East history to go seven-for-seven behind a Notre Dame player in 2000.
"If I don't shoot, then I'm sitting on the bench next to Coach Proto," Green said. "But I was feeling it, and I know my team needed a lift, and that's what Coach wants me to do – give them a lift off the bench."
Despite Green's shooting percentage and the team's intensity, the Blue Demons continued to attack the basket and score. Four of its five starters scored in double figures, including sophomore forward Jasmine Penny, who had 19 points.
DePaul freshmen guard Brittany Hrynko also added 13 points. Down the stretch, Hrynko made two consecutive 3-pointers to increase the Blue Demons' lead to six with just under four minutes left to play.
"The ball bounced around, and it just didn't bounce in our hands at the moment," Proto said. "They got the ball back and got momentum with the two three's."
In the first half, which saw DePaul lead by six points, 27-21, neither team shot well. The Pirates shot 25 percent while the Blue Demons didn't fare much better with 29 percent.
Overall, the Hall did outrebound DePaul, 46-33, but failed to go to the foul line much. Morris was the only Pirate to go to the line, shooting three, in the first half.
The Pirates also had 18 turnovers, which the Blue Demons turned into 20 points.
"With each game, I think three games ago, I said we were right on the cusp, and we just need to step over the line," Proto said. "Once we do, I believe good things will happen with this team. But we're 38 minutes, 36 minutes, 35 minutes, and it's not good enough. We need to play the whole 40 minutes, and we will definitely get over that hump."
Krissy Wrobel can be reached at wrobelkr@shu.edu.
