Game Preveiw: Pirates hope for redemption in welcoming Xavier to Walsh (2/1/19)

Date: February 1, 2019

By Jose Feliciano

 

Following an up and down weekend at the Walsh, the Seton Hall Pirates (13-7 Overall, 5-4 Big East) will duel once again with the Xavier Musketeers (10-10 Overall, 1-8 Big East) this Friday at Historic Walsh Gymnasium. Seton Hall will be looking for revenge following a crushing 63-62 overtime defeat at the Cintas Center on January 6th.

 

The Pirates are coming off of an impressive 76-63 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas last Sunday, which was a strong response after a heartbreaking 70-66 loss at the hands of the Villanova Wildcats two days prior. Seton Hall was led all weekend by reigning Big East Player of the Week Shadeen Samuels, who averaged 27.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over the weekend. Samuels has now won Big East Player of the Week twice in the past three weeks.

 

The Pirates rolled out a new lineup in their win over Georgetown as Desiree Elmore was moved into the starting lineup after her stellar play off the bench this season. The rest of the starting lineup performed well against Georgetown as Samuels led the way with 28 points, and Nicole Jimenez and Inja Butina scored 17 and 13 apiece. Selena Philoxy did not score as much, but brought down 12 rebounds in the game.

 

Xavier is led by A’riana Gray, who averages a double-double on the year (13.8 PPG, 11.5 RPG), and Na’Teshia Owens (12.6 PPG, 3.4 APG). Gray had a monster game against Seton Hall in their first matchup as she had 19 points and 22 rebounds in the win. Owens hit the go-ahead layup in the final seconds of the game after the Pirates took their first lead with 3.8 seconds left in overtime.

 

The game is tomorrow with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. Coverage of the game will begin at 6:45 p.m. on 89.5 FM WSOU, the flagship station of Seton Hall Women’s Basketball. James Justice and Mat Mlodzinski will be on the call.

 

Jose Feliciano can be reached at jose.feliciano@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Game Previews, Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU