Dec. 6, 2007
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Seton Hall used a 50 percent second-half shooting effort en route to a 66-51 victory over Northwestern Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) led the way offensively for the 'Cats, tallying 12 points. Shantina Boyd (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) added a career-high nine points while Nadia Bibbs (Chicago, Ill./Hillcrest) pulled down a Wildcat-best eight rebounds.
Scoring was hard to come by early on as only four total points were scored through the first six minutes. Both teams would finish the first half shooting 30 percent. Back-to-back treys by Stutz gave the Wilcats their first lead of the game, 12-11, with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Pirates extended their advantage to three on two occasions over the next three minutes, but each time Northwestern had an answer.
A pair of free throws with 3:22 left gave the Wildcats a one-point advantage. Seton Hall scored four unanswered points to end the half, and led 24-20 at the break. Stutz led all Wildcat scorers with eight points at the half, while Bibbs was the Wildcats' leading rebounder with six.
Seton Hall opened the half on a 12-3 run to extend the lead to 36-23 four minutes into the second stanza. The Pirates led by as many as 15 before two free throws by Boyd narrowed the deficit to nine points -- the smallest of the half -- with 10 minutes remaining.
"Shantina was our only bright spot tonight," head coach Beth Combs said. "Our players need to do a better job following her emotion and intensity."
Seton Hall proceeded to increase its lead to as many as 14 before Northwestern mounted a comeback. The Wildcats used a full-court press to throw the Pirates out of their offensive rhyth, allowing them to creep back into the game.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Jenny Eckhart (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel/Syracuse) and Erin Dickerson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) fueled an 8-2 Wildcat spurt that cut the Pirate lead to 57-49 with 2:20 left. But Northwestern was forced to foul and Seton Hall drained 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
After a week hiatus for finals, the Wildcats are next in action Monday, Dec. 17 when they travel to Milwaukee to take on Marquette. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.