The Seton Hall women’s basketball team fell, 71-52, to the Georgetown Hoyas on Friday afternoon in its first of three road games. The loss is a sour note for the team, who managed to go 4-1 over its last five games entering Friday, including come-from-behind wins against Xavier on Feb. 2 and Butler on Feb. 4. The loss today drops the Pirates conference record to 7-7, with their fifth-place position still intact.
Dionna White proved to be the catalyst for a Georgetown team that ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, with White contributing 19 of her game-leading 21 points in the second half. The Pirates did not have an answer for her or Cynthia Petke, who finished with 17 points, respectively.
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Sean Barry/Staff Photographer[/caption]
Seton Hall had no answers on the glass against an aggressive Hoyas squad, especially early on. At the end of the first quarter, Georgetown had grabbed 10 rebounds as opposed to Seton Hall’s three. The final tallies in the rebounding category read 41-37 in favor of the home side, but it was specifically offensive rebounds where Georgetown stood out, with the Hoyas grabbing 15 to the Pirates’ eight.
The Pirates leading scorer, JaQuan Jackson, could not find her stroke, and the rest of the team followed suit when it came to shots from beyond the arc. Jackson finished the game with 4 points on 2-for-7 shooting and 0-for-4 from deep. The team on a whole shot 4-of-18 or 22 percent from three.
It was in the second quarter where the Hoyas began to take their first strides away from the Pirates. In order to counteract the Hoyas down low and put a stop in their runs, Seton Hall switched to a 2-3 zone defensively. Despite this, Georgetown found a way to break through, knocking down two quick long-range jumpers for five points, prompting head coach Tony Bozzella to call a timeout with 6:35 remaining in the half. Heading into halftime, Georgetown held a 34-26 lead.
In the third quarter, Seton Hall changed formation yet again, this time option for a 1-2-2 zone. For a while, the switch paid off well. The Pirates were able to cut into the lead and only trailed by five going into the final frame. However, as the last ten minutes wore on, Seton Hall could not maintain its intensity and energy. The Pirates were outscored 24-10 in the fourth quarter, as they could not slow Georgetown down in the paint or on the fast break.
Inja Butina finished at the top in scoring for the Pirates with 13 points, while Shadeen Samuels came down with 10 rebounds to lead the way in that category.
Seton Hall faces a quick turnaround as they head to Philadelphia, Pa. to face off with the Villanova Wildcats on Feb. 11. Tipoff for that game is set for 2 p.m.
Kevin Kopf can be reached at kevin.kopf@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @KMKTNF.
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