Seton Hall
Game preview: Seton Hall looks to bounce back against Georgetown
Date: January 4, 2020By: Michael Daly
The Seton Hall Pirates (9-5 overall, 2-1 Big East) will close out their weekend homestand against the Georgetown Hoyas (4-10 overall, 1-2 Big East) at Walsh Gymnasium on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Pirates last played on Friday afternoon against the Villanova Wildcats. They fell to Villanova, 61-55. The Pirates were off to a slow start to begin the game and it seemed to have a lasting effect on their play for the remainder of the game. With under five minutes left in the first half, Seton Hall trailed by five points, 25-20, and Villanova never relinquished the lead for the rest of the contest.
Seton Hall struggled shooting from the field, as they went 32.8% and 18.5% from deep. Villanova hit 39.3% of their shots on the day and drilled 33.3% of their attempted three-pointers. Despite outrebounding Villanova 42-35, both teams were tied with 22 points in the paint.
The leading scorers for Seton Hall were Lauren Park-Lane and Desiree Elmore with 12 points each. Shadeen Samuels had a historic day as she recorded her 1,000th career point in the first quarter. In the game, Samuels notched 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Her rebound total against Villanova matched her career high, 14.
When it comes to defending their opponent’s top-two players, they must find a way to limit their combined scoring moving forward. The Pirates allowed Villanova’s two best scorers, Madison Siegrist and Mary Gedaka, to score 38 points.
On the season, the Hall is averaging 70.7 points-per-game and they give up 60.4 points-per-game to their opponents. Seton Hall’s field-goal percentage is 40.4% and their opponents are shooting 39.9% from the field, thus far. The Pirates are outrebounding their competition by 1.4 rebounds, 38.4 rebounds-per-game to 37.0 rebounds-per-game.
Sunday’s game at Walsh Gymnasium will be the Hoyas’ ninth road game of the season, and they hold a 3-5 record away from McDonough Arena. The Georgetown Hoyas suffered a 71-54 road-loss in Queens, New York, on Friday evening to St. John’s.
The Hoyas trailed St. John’s by 11 points, 38-27 at the half. Georgetown was reeling on defense during the first 20 minutes of action, as St. John’s Qadasha Hoppie surged for 15 points. The Hoyas were able to shut down Hoppie in the second half, quelling her to three points.
The slow start for Georgetown was too much for them to be able to overcome. Nikola Kovacikova led the way for Georgetown with 15 points, while Taylor Barnes finished with 13 points. The third player in double-figures for Georgetown was Brianna Jones, who had 11 points and six rebounds. The Hoyas closed out the game shooting 5-7 from the field in the final minutes.
Barnes is the leading scorer for Georgetown this season with her 12.1 points-per-game. The next leading scorer is Jones, who falls just below a double-figure average with 9.3 points-per-game and is second in rebounds with 5.1 rebounds-per-game.
Look for Georgetown to make this game against Seton Hall low scoring and a defensive battle. The Hoyas average 57.4 points-per-game, while surrendering 60.0 points-per-game to their opponents.
The broadcast crew for the game will be Bob Towey and Jorie Mickens. Coverage on 89.5 FM WSOU starts at 12:45 p.m.
Michael Daly is the Web Editor at WSOU Sports, and can be reached at wsousportswebeditor@gmail.com.
Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball
