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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. ? Quite often, in athletics, adversity has a way of bringing a team together and today was a classic textbook definition of that as USF defeated Seton Hall 75-67 for its first BIG EAST Conference win of the season. The loss would be the first of the year at home for the Pirates and just the second in their last 10 games.
Entering today's game against the Pirates, the Bulls were playing without three players due to injury, including leading rebounder Brittany Denson and key reserve Gianna Messina, they were in the midst of a five-game losing streak ? and 0-4 in league play ? which was their longest since the 2002-03 season, and to make things a little more interesting, on the way to the game the Bulls were taken to the Prudential Center in downtown Newark instead of Walsh Gymnasium on Seton Hall's campus in South Orange, N.J. where the game was actually being played.
In addition, starting point guard Shantia Grace was still hobbled by an injured right ankle that she sprained against Providence last Tuesday.
“I thought that this was a very good win,” said USF head coach Jose Fernandez. “I told the kids that this is a win that they can take back and put in the back of their minds because a game like this can help them. Life is more important than winning and losing basketball games. With what these kids have been through, losing five in a row, losing four conference games and having three ladies not traveling because they are injured. We played eight kids today and to beat a team that has not lost at home all year ? and were 12-3 coming in ? this is a good win for us. Life is full of challenges and its how you deal with adversity and it's what you do with those challenges and how you learn from that.”
Starting the game it looked like the cards that were stacked against USF would take its toll. Seton Hall came out at the opening tip and would jump out to a 10-0 lead less than five minutes into the game before Melissa Dalembert would get the Bulls on the board with a turnaround jumper with 16:48 left in the first half.
USF (11-7, 1-4 BIG EAST) would return the favor using its own 6-0 stretch to cut the lead to four, 10-6, when Porche Grant hit a five-footer with 15:29 on the clock.
Both teams would get hot hitting 50 percent of their shots from the field over the first 8:30 of the first stanza (USF 6-12, SHU 9-18).
The Pirates (12-4, 2-2 BIG EAST) would lead by as many as 12, 29-12, in the first half with 7:52 left.
The Bulls would then hit on all cylinders to close the first half. USF would use a 11-3 run to cut the Seton Hall lead to one, 35-34, when Jazmine Sepulveda hit two free throws with 1:25 left before the intermission. The Bulls would then take their first lead of the game, 36-35, on a steal and lay-up by ChiChi Okpaleke with just over a minute left in the half.
In all, USF's run would be a 15-3 stretch as the Bulls held the Pirates to just one field goal ? a three-pointer ? in the last 4:34 and took a 38-35 lead into the locker room at the break.
The second half proved to be a dogfight as Seton Hall came back and re-took the lead, 44-42, an a trey by Amber Harris with 17:27 on the clock.
After four more lead changes over the next five minutes, USF would take the lead for good, 55-54, when Grace would connect on a 10-footer with 12 minutes left. She would then hit a three-pointer on the next possession and then Sepulveda gave the Bulls a seven-point lead, 61-54, draining a shot from behind the arc with 9:09 left in the game.
The Pirates would cut the lead to two points, twice, at 66-64 with 3:32 left and 68-66 with 1:34 remaining however they couldn't get any closer.
USF, who shot 73.9 percent (17-23) from the field on the afternoon, made 6-8 from the charity stripe in the last 3:06.
Grace seems to have recovered from that injured right ankle netting a game-high 27 points in a complete game 40 minutes.
“Shantia is a kid who sprained her ankle a few minutes into Tuesday's game with Providence,” said Fernandez. “She was heavily taped; she flat out had a phenomenal, gutsy performance.”
Sepulveda added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jessica Lawson chipped in with 12 points.
The Bulls will get a week off to prepare for its next contest against Marquette on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Sun Dome. The game can be heard live in the Tampa Bay area on 1010 Sports WQYK-AM and be televised live on Catch 47.
