Seton Hall
Game preview: Seton Hall hopes to notch a win against Marquette on road trip
Date: January 12, 2020By: Liam Plate
The Seton Hall women’s basketball team (10-6 overall, 3-2 conference) will host the Marquette Golden Eagles (11-4 overall, 2-2 conference) on Sunday at 3 p.m. as they return from their road trip to Chicago. The Pirates are coming off an 85-68 loss to No. 15 DePaul Blue Demons.
The final score does not reflect the Pirates efforts throughout the game as they were tied at 22 after the first quarter. The Hall was winning 18-10 until the Blue Demons finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to trim the lead to one point and eventually tied the game. Seton Hall was down 10 points until Desiree Elmore helped bring the team within five points at halftime with the score being 46-41.
In the second half, DePaul was too much as all five of their starters scored in double digits including Lexi Held, Sonya Morris, Chante Stonewall, Kelly Campbell, and Deja Church. For the Pirates, Barbara Johnson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Alexis Lewis had 12 points and Elmore had 11.
Seton Hall turned the ball over 21 times in the game, which lead to DePaul’s offense as they scored effectively in transition. On the other hand, Marquette is coming off a 94-85 win against the St. Johns’ Red Storm. The Golden Eagles had three players scoring in double digits as Selena Lott scored 34 points, Lauren Van Kleunen notched 19, and Altia Anderson got 14.
Marquette was not in control in the first half, but they came back and controlled the second half with solid defense. Marquette also shot 59.3% from the field. The Golden Eagles also dominated in the paint as they scored 52 points underneath.
Both Marquette and Seton Hall are dominant teams underneath, so winning the battle underneath will be crucial to winning this game. The Hall is averaging 38.6 rebounds per game and the Golden Eagles average 38.4 rebounds per game, so the whoever wins the rebounding battle will have the best chance to get the win.
Limiting Marquette’s shooting percentage will be key for the Pirates as the Golden Eagles have shot over 40% from the field in 13 games this season. The challenge for Marquette will be stopping Seton Hall’s balanced attack. The Hall had only three players in double figures against DePaul, so if the Golden Eagles play the Pirates the same way defensively it could be game over for the Hall. Lauren Park-Lane and Mya Jackson will need to facilitate the ball well in order to spread out the scoring attack to take down the Golden Eagles.
The Pirates will also need to do what they do best, which is turning defense into offense and score in transition. Limiting Marquette’s shooting will be the biggest key for the Pirates while Marquette will need to make sure that only 3 or less Pirates score in double figures, but whoever wins the battle underneath will win this Big East battle.
89.5 FM WSOU will have all the coverage you need as Chris Russo and Jose Feliciano will be on the call from historic Walsh Gymnasium with coverage starting on the airwaves at 2:45 p.m. while tip-off is at 3 p.m.
Liam Plate can be reached at liam.plate@student.shu.edu.
Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball
