Game Preview: Seton Hall squares off against Toledo in WNIT (3/21/19)

Date: March 20, 2019

By Jose Feliciano

 

The Seton Hall Pirates have earned their fifth playoff bid in their last six seasons, as they will face off against the Toledo Rockets in the first round of the WNIT. The Pirates accepted an at-large bid and will head to Toledo, Ohio for their first-ever matchup with the Rockets this Thursday at 7 p.m.

 

The Pirates are coming off of a 15-15 season and last played in the first round of the Big East Tournament where they suffered a 76-51 defeat at the hands of the St. John’s Red Storm. Seton Hall kept things close with the Red Storm and were only down by four at halftime before only mustering 17 points in the entire second half.

 

Shadeen Samuels has led the way for the Pirates throughout the season as she has broken out in a huge way, capping off her breakout season with a First Team All-Big East selection and the Big East Most Improved Award. She also won the scoring title in the Big East Conference by averaging just over 20 points per game.

 

Seton Hall is only 4-5 all-time in the WNIT and lost last year’s matchup to the Saint Joseph Hawks 75-57 at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates made a run into the sweet 16 in the WNIT back in 2014.

 

The Toledo Rockets, on the other hand, finished 20-11 overall and 11-7 in MAC conference play. They are led by senior center Kaayla McIntyre, who averages just over 16 points per game and was named the All-MAC Second Team this year. The team is one that is more defensive minded as they only surrender 60.6 points per game and play at a slow pace as they only score 65.1 points per game.

 

The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Northwestern vs. Dayton game with a date and time to be determined at a later time.

 

Coverage for this game begins at 6:45 p.m. on 89.5 FM WSOU before Chris Russo and Wilnir Louis delivering the call from the Savage Arena in Toledo.

 

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

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