Game preview: Seton Hall closes out road trip at Xavier on New Year's Eve

Date: December 30, 2019

By: John Makuch

The Pirates are on the second game of their road trip, this one against the Xavier Musketeers on New Year’s Eve in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 1 p.m.

Seton Hall women’s basketball will look to pick up their second Big East victory against the 1-11 Musketeers after a hard-fought win against a good Butler team on Sunday. Xavier is not having the success that they were looking for heading into conference play, and they collide with Seton Hall who have had their ups and downs but come in with a solid 8-4 record.

The Pirates will look to avenge the two losses to Xavier from last season, including a one-point overtime loss that also occurred in the Cintas Center in Cincinnati. With an improved Seton Hall team from last season and a regressed Xavier team, the Pirates will also look to come away with the victory in an easy fashion, but this team has given them issues in the past so Xavier should not be treated lightly.

The Pirates are going to attempt to keep their momentum going from the win against Butler and get past Xavier heading into a two-game home stint. While Xavier is going to try to pick up some momentum of their own after losing 75-67 to St. John’s on Sunday.

Seton Hall comes into the second game of conference play with an improved roster that has looked to make waves in the Big East. The three leading scorers for the Pirates; Desiree Elmore, Alexis Lewis and the Big East Preseason Player of the Year Shadeen Samuels, all come in with experience heading into the matchup with Xavier.

The Pirates are led by two seniors and a junior in Elmore who has stepped up for the team while Samuels dealt with an injury earlier in the season. The Pirates need to play their game and push the tempo to come back home 2-0 on this quick road trip and end the decade with a victory.

The Xavier Musketeers three leading scorers include two sophomores and a junior in A’riana Gray, Carrie Gross, and Aliyah Dunham, but only Gray has averaged double digits in scoring this season while the Pirates have three players with double digits in points per game. The Musketeers will have to win in a low scoring game and find a way to slow down the three-point shooting of Barbara Johnson, Mya Jackson, and Lewis. Xavier can put themselves in a position to win this game by slowing the game down and winning the battle in the paint.

Matt Mlodzinski and Rich Behan will be on the call for the game and coverage can be heard on 89.5 FM WSOU beginning at 12:45 p.m.

John Makuch can be reached at john.makuch@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball