Lured into a half-court contest by Seton Keough yesterday, run-oriented St. Frances still managed to beat the Gators at their own game.
No. 3 St. Frances limited ninth-ranked Seton Keough to just 13 field goals en route to a 51-41 Catholic League victory at Loyola College.
"We saw that they wanted to use the 30-second shot clock and run a lot of screen and motion, but we were patient with it," St. Frances coach Jerome Shelton said. "We didn't want to grind it out with them because that's their style of play and they're better at it than we are, but I was satisfied with our execution in our half-court offense."
The Panthers were led by 6-foot-1 senior center Kortni Webb (17 points) and senior forward Melba Chambers (15 points).
With the slower pace, the Gators were able to trade baskets with St. Frances early.
Seton Keough (4-1, 2-1) was within 17-14 with 2:14 remaining in the first half, but the Panthers ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back.
The Gators, who were led by junior Melanie Morris (15 points), went scoreless for the first 4:42 of the third quarter and did not get a field goal until 5:29 into the period.
St. Frances, however, also was having difficulty scoring, especially at the foul line, where it finished 4-for-15. Despite the Gators' scoring drought, they were within 34-22 entering the fourth quarter.
Seton Keough scored 19 points in the final period, but they were never able to reduce their deficit to less than 10. Prior to the fourth quarter, the Gators did not score more than eight points in a period and appeared to be tentative on offense.
"Tentative is a good word," said first-year Seton Keough coach Jim Stromberg, who had been an assistant to Dave Greenberg at Mount Hebron for 14 years. "We didn't take shots when we had them. We didn't attack the basket. And St. Frances is a good team. We have to play almost a perfect game to beat them."
The Panthers, winners of six straight since a 14-point loss to Philadelphia's University City, again were given a lift by Webb's strong play at both ends of the court.
After scoring a total of 14 points in St. Frances' first four games, Webb scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game.
"Kortni's defense has been outstanding and her offense has been very valuable in our last four games," Shelton said. "She's a player that generally thinks defense first, but I've told her that I would like for her to start looking for her offense more, and she's given us a big lift around the basket."
Shelton also was encouraged by Chambers' performance. Chambers, an All-Metro forward who averaged 21 points last season, had scored only 42 total points in her previous five games.
"Melba's a scorer, and scorers have to shoot their way out of slumps," Shelton said. "That's the only advice you can give a scorer and you hope that they don't lose their confidence."
Chambers, however, said the decline in her scoring is more a reflection of the team's balance rather than a slump on her part.
"I don't have such a heavy job anymore," she said. "My teammates have grown and I can depend on them as much as they depend on me. I don't have to score 20 points a game for us to win."