Game preview: Pirates look to stay undefeated in Princeton game

Date: November 14, 2019

By: Dylan Hunt

The Seton Hall Pirates look to make it four straight wins to start the season, as they take on the 2-0 Princeton Tigers in the Walsh Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night.

The Pirates come into the game off a defensive showing against the VCU Rams in which they only allowed 33 points. It was the fewest points allowed by the Pirates since they allowed just 30 points to the Stony Brook Seawolves on Dec. 17, 2011.

Seton Hall senior, Alexis Lewis led the game with 13 points, along with this, senior Shadeen Samuels added nine points with 11 rebounds. The Pirates had stellar defense, forcing the VCU Rams to go 0/10 from three-point range. Seton Hall totaled 46 rebounds in the game, which was a season high.

The Princeton Tigers come into tomorrow’s game fresh off a win against the George Washington Colonials. Princeton won the matchup 75-70 on the backs of junior Carlie Littlefield and senior Bella Alarie. Littlefield had a Princeton record 10 steals, along with 22 points and eight total rebounds, two rebounds shy of a triple double. Alaria scored 14 points and added 12 rebounds, giving herself a double-double on the night. Previously, the Tigers had a dominating 80-47 win over Rider.

A player to watch on the Pirates is junior Desiree Elmore, who was named BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. Across two games, Elmore averaged 19.0 points with 11.5 rebounds per game. Seton Hall is 12-6 all-time against the Princeton Tigers. In their last meeting the Pirates had a comeback victory of 70-66 on November 14th, 2018.

Shadeen Samuels had a double-double in the win with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Princeton Tigers finished last season with a 22-10 record with a win over Penn in the Ivy League title game. Coming into this season the Tigers were the Ivy League favorite for Women’s Basketball.

Across the Hall’s first three games, Desiree Elmore leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game. Along with this Elmore is leading the charge for the Pirates defensively with 7.0 defensive rebounds per game, 1.3 steals per game and 1.7 blocks per game. The game should be entertaining as the two highly touted programs come into the early season matchup undefeated. Both teams have had relatively easy wins, and this should be a tight competition.

Game coverage for Seton Hall vs. Princeton will begin at 6:45 p.m. on 89.5 FM WSOU. On the call will be Jose Feliciano and Jose Balderrama. Moving forward, the Hall will be taking on the Saint Joseph’s Hawks on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2:30 p.m.

Dylan Hunt can be reached at dylan.hunt@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball