The Seton Hall women's basketball team opened up their season with a win over Rider for consecutive seasons, 63-49.
Ebonie Williams led the Pirates with 18 points on 5-16 shooting from the floor, including 3-6 from downtown. Nicole Emery tallied 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Kandice Green rounded out the Pirates in double-figure scoring with eleven points to go along with seven boards of her own.
CIntella Spotwood led the way for the Broncs, registering 14 points and five boards in the loss.
The Pirates trailed in the early-going before jumping out to a 20-11 lead. Rider however would not be put away so easily, consistently chipping away before the half to cut the lead to four, 31-27.
In the early moments of the second half neither team seemed able to pull away. With the score tied at 40 apiece, the Pirates would go on an 8-0 run, capped off by freshman Terry Green's second three-pointer of the night. From there the Pirates would not look back, extending their lead before closing out the victory.
Green shined in her first collegiate game putting up eight points, including two threes, to go along with four boards and three steals. As a team the Hall forced 25 turnovers while on yielding 13 of their own.
Seton Hall also held the edge in rebounding 42-37 including 20 offensive boards, an important statistic given the loss of the team's leading rebounder from a year ago in Noteisha Womack.
The Pirates cleaned the glass effectively as a team, with seven players reeling in four or rebounds each.
The Pirates now look ahead to Monday's match against Marshall in Huntington, W. Va. Seton Hall defeated the Thundering Herd last year, 73-52. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm.
Zachary Cziryak can be reached at zachary.cziryak@student.shu.edu.
