Seton Hall University
Georgetown
Pirates Come Back to win at Georgetown 72-71
2/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Redshirt sophomore Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) hit a pair of field goals in the final 37 seconds to help the Seton Hall University women's basketball team erase a 13-point second half deficit and pick up a 72-71 victory at Georgetown University on Wednesday afternoon.
In a game that was originally scheduled for Wednesday night but was moved up eight hours due to the approach of severe winter weather, Seton Hall (14-9, 5-7) trailed the Hoyas (8-17, 2-11) by double digits in both halves, and after starting the second half on a 9-0 run, fell back behind 55-42, as the game approached 10 minutes to play.
It would be unfair to highlight one player that stepped up to help Seton Hall complete the 13-point turnaround as a number of Pirates played critical roles at various points down the stretch.
Senior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) was instrumental in getting the offense going after Georgetown's 15-2 spurt, breaking the run with a layup and banking in another shot on the next possession. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 points in the second half, while the double-double was the first of her career.
Seton Hall steadily chipped away at the lead, saving its big run for the final three minutes and change. The Hoya lead was still three possessions, 66-59, when sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) helped SHU make a move, shooting 5-for-5 at the line, converting all three at the stripe after she was fouled shooting from the outside at 2:43, to make it a four-point game.
Richardson-Smith scored a game-high 18 points, going a 7-for-7 from the stripe and knocking down three 3-pointers.
The Georgetown lead was down to one thanks to a Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) drive to the rim as the game ticked below the 90 second mark. On the ensuing possession Ali blocked an Andrea White jumper from free throw line, with the rebound making it out to junior Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) on the left side.
The Hoya defense lost track of Ali as she sprinted down the floor, and Brown recognized her open teammate and made an overhead pass all the way down the court for a wide open layup, resulting in a 70-69 Seton Hall lead.
Georgetown did regain the lead briefly 14 seconds later as Faith Woodard drove the baseline on the right side and made a contested layup with 23 seconds remaining. On the ensuing Seton Hall possession, Brown and Ali hooked up again, this time for the game winner. Brown held the ball outside the 3-point line on the right wing, then made her way to the paint, dishing it off to Ali for close-range finish as the clock hit 10 seconds.
Georgetown did have one last chance to win the game and the Hoyas opted to try Woodard along the baseline once again, but this time her shot rimmed in and out and Seton Hall held on for the one-point win.
Ali scored four of her nine points with under a minute to play, and also grabbed eight rebounds. Brown scored eight points and dished out a career-best nine assists, with three steals. Simmons finished with 14 points, scoring in double figures for the 18th-straight game.
Seton Hall improves to 4-2 on the road in conference play, the most BIG EAST road wins for the Pirates since the 2002-03 season. The Hall also won at Georgetown for the first time since Jan. 26, 2005.
Although Seton Hall won the first meeting of the season against Georgetown, the Hoyas outrebounded SHU 50-37 and held a 42-28 advantage in the paint in that game. On Wednesday the Pirates reversed both of those trends, outrebounding Georgetown 40-34 while outscoring them 40-38 in the paint.
Freshman Natalie Butler, who finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Georgetown, scored just one point over the final 14:30. Logan Battle came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting with three 3-pointers.
Seton Hall returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 15, when it heads to the Windy City ot face the DePaul Blue Demons. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. (ET).
