SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The
William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team used a tremendous second-half to
defeat the Seton Hall Pirates on the road Wednesday afternoon, 61-54. With the victory, the Tribe improves its
record to 6-4 on the season, while Seton Hall falls to 7-5 on the year.
Junior Janine Aldridge had a tremendous day for the College,
matching her career high with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field,
including 6-of-12 from deep. Junior
Emily Correal added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while classmate
Jaclyn McKenna also had 14 to go with four boards and three assists.
The game got off to a lightning-fast start on Wednesday
afternoon, with both teams executing well on the offensive end. The Pirates were able to take an early lead
over the College, holding on to it for the remainder of the opening half.
With the score, 24-15, in favor of Seton Hall at the 7:14
mark, Aldridge took over for the College.
Scoring 16 points in the first half, Aldridge drained a 3-pointer from
the top of the key to cut the lead to five and then hit a jumper in transition
to cut the lead to just four, 24-20.
For the remainder of the first half, the teams traded
buckets and after 20 minutes of play, Seton Hall took a 32-26 lead in to the
locker rooms. Aldridge was key for the
Tribe, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor in the first frame, including 4-of-8
from beyond the arc. Junior Emily
Correal had four points and three rebounds, while McKenna netted three and also
grabbed three boards.
To start the second half, the Pirates scored the first five
points of the frame, pushing their lead to 37-28. The Seton Hall advantage would be
short-lived, however, as the College reeled off the next 17 points of the game
to take the lead from SHU, 45-37. The
17-0 streak was just part of the larger Tribe run, as the College outscored the
Pirates, 29-8, over a period of 13 minutes and 43 seconds to take a 57-45 lead
with 4:36 remaining in the contest.
Over the course of the run, five different Tribe players
scored with McKenna netting 11 points and Aldridge contributing seven. Defensively, junior Chanel Murchison and
freshman Jazmen Boone were fantastic, limiting Seton Hall's leading scorer,
Jazzmine Crew, to just two points in the second half.
With the Tribe's lead at 12, the Pirates made one last push
with less than four minutes left in the game.
Seton Hall scored five-straight points to shave the College's advantage
to five, 59-54, with 1:36 left. Two
clutch free throws from freshman Kyla Kerstetter halted all the Pirates'
momentum, however, and the Tribe held on to defeat Seton Hall, 61-54.
The numbers in the second half showed just how great the
College was in the final 20 minutes. As
a team, W&M shot 41.2% (14-of-34) while holding Seton Hall to a staggering
24.3% (9-of-37) in the second half. For the
game, the College only turned the ball over nine times and also had 18 assists
on 24 made baskets. Senior Katherine DeHenzel
led the Green and Gold in assists with five.
The impressive road win was the third of the season for the Tribe
already this year. The College also
notched its second win over a BCS team on the road this year as well, as it
previously beat the ACC's Virginia Tech in Blacksburg last month. Seton Hall is a member of the BIG EAST
conference.
The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team will
return to the court on Wednesday, December 28 when the College will begin a
four-game homestand against the George Washington Colonials. Tip-off in Kaplan Arena is scheduled for 7
p.m.
