SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – For the Seton Hall women, it was a simple halftime adjustment after the Hall trailed Marshall 33-30 at the half.
“They ran their flex, posted up and had their way with our man to man,” Seton Hall coach Phyllis Mangina said. “So at the half we decided to go to 2-3 zone and trapped a little out of it.”
The simple adjustment worked. The Hall dominated the final twenty minutes and defeated Marshall of Conference USA 73-52 on Saturday at Walsh Gym. The second half of the contest saw Marshall score 19 points. The inside game was shut down and the perimeter shots didn’t fall. A close contest turned into a rout.
“I think our first six games we zoned about 13 seconds,” Mangina said, “so they probably only got to prepare against our man-to-man.”
The Hall made another simple adjustment: they relaxed. They had more turnovers (16) than field goals (12) the first half. “Coach just told us to just settle down and play our game,” Nicole Emery said. “She said we’re at home don’t panic and come out hard on defense.”
Emery, a junior swingman, played a major part in the victory. While Ebonie Williams, an outstanding sophomore guard, struggled with an uncharacteristic 1-of-7 shooting night, Emery took up the slack. She scored a game-high 18 points while grabbing four rebounds.
Chantelle Handy and Alyssa Hammond combined for 14 first half points for Marshall, with virtually all coming in the paint. In the second half the pair combined for seven points and their teammates could not take up the slack. Hammond led Marshall with 11 points and Handy added 10.
Seton Hall had nice balance with Candace Green scoring 18 points and adding six rebounds. Noteisha Womack, the Pirates’ prime inside threat, added a dozen points and boards.
The loss dropped Marshall to 5-2 while the Hall improved to 5-1, the lone loss a two point decision at San Diego.
“We are playing a lot of teams with different styles to get us ready for the Big East,” Mangina said. Already the Pirates have faced the likes of Rider, UMBC, Wagner, Marshall and were set to entertain Colorado of the Big Twelve on Tuesday. “(Pre-conference) is not about going out and playing teams you can smack,” Mangina said. “We want to face teams that can get us ready for the conference. I think we can be pretty good.”
Said Emery of holding Marshall to 19 second-half points: “We came out with more energy. We had fun.”
