Seton Hall
Game Preview: Women's basketball set to host Butler (2/3/19)
Date: February 2, 2019By Michael Daly
Coming off of an 80-76 loss Friday night to Xavier, the Seton Hall women’s basketball team (13-8 Overall, 5-5 Big East) wants to end their homestand with a victory against the Butler Bulldogs (17-4 Overall, 7-3 Big East) on Sunday afternoon.
In the narrow defeat at the hands of Xavier, the Pirates finished the first-half shooting 48.3% from the field and 33.3% from downtown. Shadeen Samuels notched 17 points in the first 20 minutes of action, and Nicole Jimenez and Inja Butina combined for 10 first-half points. Seton Hall entered the second-half trailing 39-35.
The Hall managed to shoot 45.2% and just 30% from distance in the second half. Conversely, Xavier made 12/25 attempted shots and knocked down 6/16 attempted three-pointers. Samuels ended the game with 28 points for Seton Hall, Jimenez put up 19 points and Inja Butina added 15 points in the losing effort.
The Pirates have lost two of their last three contests inside Walsh Gymnasium. Seton Hall sits in the middle of the pack in the Big East at the fifth seed and hopes to climb up the conference standings for the remainder of the season. Their opponent on Sunday, Butler, holds the second spot in the Big East, behind Marquette.
Samuels anchors the Pirates with 18.8 points-per-game and 9.3 rebounds-per-game, which puts her at second in the Big East in both statistical categories. Speaking of the Big East leaders in rebounds, Butler’s Tori Schickel enters Sunday’s affair ranking fourth in the conference in boards with an average of 8.8 per game.
The Bulldogs traveled to Carnesecca Arena on Friday night, where they outlasted the Red Storm in overtime, 73-68. Butler’s leading scorer, Whitney Jennings, produced 29 points and four rebounds. Schickel almost had herself a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. Through the five periods of play, Butler shot 41.3% from the field and 53.8% from beyond the arc.
On the season, Whitney Jennings averages 15.3 points-per-game, which is sixth in the Big East in scoring. Schickel is second on the team in scoring with 12.9 points-per-game, and third in scoring is Kristen Spolyar with 12 points-per-game.
Sunday’s game is set to tip-off at 1 p.m. 89.5 FM WSOU will handle all the coverage beginning at 12:45 p.m., with pregame coverage hosted by James Justice and Andrea Keppler. Jose Feliciano and Wilnir Louis will have the call inside Walsh Gymnasium.
Michael Daly can be reached at michael.daly@student.shu.edu.
Posted in: Game Previews, Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU
