Pace Women's Basketball Heads to NE-10 Quarterfinals

The women's basketball team was victorious in the first round of playoffs against the number 12 seeded Saint Anselm College, 58-35, at home on Sunday afternoon.

The Setters, who are currently ranked at number 5 in the Northeast 10 Conference, upped their overall record to 22-7 as they head into quaterfinals Tuesday night at the College of Saint Rose (number 4.)

Senior Brittany Huggins led the Setters' effort with 13 points during the match, including two three-pointers. Senior Kristin Connolly added 12 points to Pace's 58 total; and Maral Javadifar, a junior, contributed an additional 10 points and seven rebounds. Senior Lisa Welsome led the defensive effort with 10 total rebounds.

The Hawks offense was led by junior Epiphany Smith, who scored 10 points for the team. Mariah Wynn, a freshman, had a solid seven rebounds for the Hawks' defensive effort.

Though the Setters said they found the pace at the start of the game to be slower than they hoped, they went into the half with an eight point (23-15) lead.

Head Coach Carrie Seymour said the team discussed being more aggressive going into the second half.

"I think we had a slow start," she said. "The second half we made some adjustments; the kids started playing harder."

Agreed Javadifar, "I thought we played well—we picked it up the second half."

The Setters came out with an explosive start after halftime, widening the lead to 10 points with 13:54 left in the game, and peaked with a whopping 26 point lead with 1:11 remaining.

Looking forward to Tuesday's quarterfinal match, said Javadifar, "We've got to play 40 minutes and pick it up on defense and all around."

Added Connolly, "We need to focus on playing sharper. We should go into it with a strong effort."

The Setters fell to the College of Saint Rose the last time the two teams met on Feb. 12 by three points. Seymour attributed the loss to her team's brief dip in energy and said they need to focus on staying aggressive.

"Our team goal [today] was to win," said Connolly, "And now we want to accomplish more."