Game preview: Seton Hall wishes to sustain their successful run in an evening tilt with St. John's

Date: January 25, 2020

By: Madi Travisano

The Seton Hall Pirates will continue their homestand in South Orange, N.J., this Sunday, Jan. 26, as they take on the St. John’s Red Storm. The game will be in Walsh Gymnasium with an evening tipoff time of 6:30 p.m. 

 

Both Seton Hall and St. John’s have had strong starts to this 2019-2020 season. The Hall is currently ranked third in the Big East, with the Red Storm following behind at fourth. Both have a record of 12-7 overall on the season, and with both teams being 5-3 in Big East play.  

 

Seton Hall’s last outing was against Providence where they crushed the Friars 97-55. Both Shadeen Samuels and Alexis Lewis hit the 20-point mark on the game. While the Pirates had a dominant offense behind the seniors, the versatility and depth of this Pirates team was put on full display with every player to get points on the board for the Hall during this matchup.  

 

The Pirates continued to put on a clinic as their defense kept up the momentum the entire game. Most notably they forced 23 turnovers from Providence, making it the 10th time this season alone that the Pirates have at least forced 20 in a game. Now moving on to the Red Storm, they won their last against Creighton, 63-58, making them 8-1 at home this season but being 4-5 while away. 

 

During this matchup, junior guard Qadashah Hoppie continued to set the pace for the Johnnies this season in scoring as she put up 16 points. Senior guard Alissa Alston also had double figures with 12 points, to go along with a pair of steals and three rebounds. And the veterans continued to stand out as senior Alisha Kebbe finished just shy of a double-double with 11 points and 9 blocks to go along with a pair of blocks.  

 

Now throwing it back to last season between these two teams, the Pirates handed the Red Storm two losses on the season. But the Johnnies got the best of them when they met at the 2019 Big East Tournament where they defeated the Hall 76-51 and moved on to the quarterfinals. Seton Hall is now looking to edge them out of the standings with this first meeting in the 2019-2020 season. 

 

While it is certain the veterans will step up from both teams, it’s going to be toss up to see what freshmen will stand out and help set the momentum for this matchup between Big East rivals. Wilnir Louis and Bob Towey will be on the call so be sure to tune in to 89.5 WSOU FM for a tipoff time at 6:30 p.m. from historic Walsh Gymnasium. Pregame coverage of the game starts at 6:15 p.m. and will be hosted by Michael Daly and Angelique McKenzie.

Madi Travisano can be reached at madisyn.travisano@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball