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BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A furious second half comeback fell just short as the Seton Hall women's basketball team lost to Georgia Tech in the opening round of the LIU Classic, 57-51.  The Pirates (3-3) face Brown in tomorrow's consolation game at 2:00 p.m.

Junior Ebonie Williams (Hagerstown, Md.) paced the Hall with 15 points.  Sophomore Shanai Heber (Paterson, N.J.) posted a double-double, the first of her career, with 12 rebounds and 10 assists.  Brigitte Ardossi led the Yellow Jackets (3-1) with 12 points.

The Pirates struggled in the early going, missing their first 11 shots and committing 12 turnovers before hitting a field goal, a three-pointer from Williams with 7:06 left to cut the deficit to 24-7.  She drained another from beyond the arc two minutes later, and a turnaround jumper from sophomore Kandice Green (Baltimore, Md.) made it a 24-12 game with 4:52 remaining.

Green scored again underneath with 21 seconds left as the Hall got to within 11, but Sharena Taylor buried a three on the other end as time expired, giving the Yellow Jackets a 33-19 edge at the break.

The Pirates recovered to shoot 30.0 percent in the first half, hitting six of their final nine attempts.

Georgia Tech posted a 10-4 run out of halftime, pushing the lead back to 20 on Taylor's jumper at the 15:01 mark.  Seton Hall responded with an 8-2 spurt of its own, closed by consecutive buckets from Williams, as it got back to within 45-31 with under 13 minutes to play.

Senior Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.) converted a three-point play with 9:30 to go as the Pirates made it a 47-38 game.  The Hall stayed within striking distance and finally got to within seven when Green hit a lay up at the 4:20 mark.  She followed with a jumper on the next trip down, and her two free throws with 2:34 to go made it 54-51.

Neither team could find the hoop over the next two minutes, and the Pirates found themselves in possession with 33.7 seconds left.  An offensive foul on Emery gave the ball back to the Yellow Jackets, and Alex Montgomery hit a pair of free throws, breaking a six minute and one second scoreless streak for a 56-51 lead that would be enough.

Emery finished with 12 points, while Green chipped in 11 and seven rebounds.