Women's College Basketball
Seton Hall University 63, Rider University 49
LAWRENCEVILLE--Despite 14 points from junior Cintella Spotwood (Trenton/Trenton Central), the Rider University women's basketball team lost to Seton Hall 63-49 in the 2009-10 season opener Friday night.
"It is not a morale victory by any stretch of the imagination," said head coach Lynn Milligan who was undefeated in two home openers prior to this game. "Our goal every year is to go undefeated at home and we had an opportunity to win a ball game at home and we didn't reach our goal."
"They are a good team," said Seton Hall head coach Phyllis Mangina, in her 25th season as the helm of the Pirates. "They have improved tremendously. Lynn (Milligan) has done a great job here. It was our first game and it was on the road. We had a bunch of young kids off our bench playing and I thought Rider did a nice job, but I think it came down to us making plays when we had to."
Tied at 40 with 12 minutes left in the game, Seton Hall (1-0) went on an 8-0 run, four points by Kandice Green to lead 48-40 with 9:50 left in the game. Green finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Broncs battled back with a 5-0 run, three points by Spotwood to get within 48-45 with eight minutes left but that was as close as Rider (0-1) would get. Seton Hall went on a 12-2 run to ice the game and go up by 13 with three minutes left.
"I don't think that we ran out of gas," Milligan said. "I think the run that they had at the 10 minute mark was very crucial. I think that took the wind out of our sails. We responded to it with a 5-0 run but then we kind of stalled. The three-pointer that Cintella hit, we had to have that momentum carry us a little further then it did. That 8-0 run was critical. That little two minute mark I think is where we lost the game. I think overall it was a very good game for us but disappointing because we felt that we let an opportunity slip through our fingers on our home court."
Trailing 11-10 with 13:27 left in the first half, Seton Hall went on a 10-0 run, four points by Green to lead 20-11 with nine minutes left in the opening period.
Rider used a Spotwood three-pointer to key a 9-0 run and tie the game at 20 with 6:38 left in the first half.
Tied at 24 with 3:34 left in the first half, the Pirates scored nine of the next 14 points, five points by Ebonie Williams and Seton Hall led 33-29 at the half. Williams finished with a game-high 18 points.
Also for Rider, sophomore Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) had 13 points and seven rebounds with senior Tammy Meyers (Willingboro) finishing with 10 points and three assists.
"I just tried to get position and try not to do the reach over," Homan, a member of the MAAC All-Rookie team said. "When you get position you can get the rebound. Definitely I knew it was going to be a fight. I was happy that we could keep with them. I think that we lost a little bit toward the middle of the second half. Seton Hall was a little smarter and we have to work on our boxing out a little bit more. At the end we could not keep it together till the finish. You are never happy with the loss, but I was happy that we did so well. Last year we lost by a lot and this year we stayed with them."
"Any time we play on the road I would take any win," Mangina added. "I thought that they (Rider) did a nice job taking the ball to the rim and we did a poor job of handling their penetration. Their inside game played a little better, they had 11 second half second chance points. Then 20 of their points came off of our fouls or us not blocking out. Good for them for going after it and finishing plays. They kept it close with their rebounding and penetrating. They saw the weakness in us and went after it."
The game featured eight ties and five lead changes. Seton Hall held a 42-37 rebounding advantage including 20-10 on the offensive glass.
"You saw some nice things inside that we did," Milligan said about 20 points in the paint (to 26 for Seton Hall). "We are young in the post, but we are big. Give credit to Seton Hall. They picked on us inside defensively a little bit. When we were able to get them offensively they got us on the other end by attacking our freshman post players. We are long and lanky in the post; we are big. It is something that we have to take advantage of. We had some miscues on some passes that we have to tighten up and get better on."
Rider had 25 turnovers in the game to 13 for Seton Hall and the Broncs committed 20 of the 39 fouls including four each on Meyers, freshman Dior Brown (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) and freshman Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy).
"The early foul trouble changed up our combinations a little bit more, but all the players that have played tonight we planned on them playing," Milligan said. "They have all earned their minutes. Tammy picking up the early fouls took us out of an offensive flow a little earlier then anticipated but the freshman were ready to play and made the adjustments. Tammy is a player that makes her teammates better and she was unselfish tonight. I think her and Cintella played well while being in foul trouble tonight. Keeping them out of foul trouble will help us a little bit more."
This was Seton Hall's first visit to Alumni Gym since 1984 and the Pirates now lead the all-time series 7-0. The Pirates defeated Rider in the 2008-09 season opener 64-48 but those who saw tonight's game know it was not truly a 'double-digit' loss this time around.
"When we put the uniform on we look to win the game," Milligan added. "I think people make the mistake of seeing that we are playing Seton Hall. Our players are playing their players. We don't look at the uniform. I just prepare my team to play everyday and win the ball game and to play to the best of our ability. It does not matter what team we are playing against. It was a home game that we missed an opportunity."
Rider travels to Colgate for a 7:00pm game on Monday night.
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