Seton Hall
Pirates Fall on Road to In-State Rival Rutgers
Date: December 9, 2017
(Photo: SHU Athletics)
By: Alex Melillo
The Seton Hall Women;s Basketball team fell, 70-45, to in-state rivals Rutgers on Friday. A close, back and forth game turned ugly for the Pirates late in the third and continued into the fourth quarter.
Things did not start off well for Seton Hall from the get-go. Jump shots in the first quarter would not fall for any Pirate. As a team, the Pirates shot seven three point balls, blanking on all of them. JaQuan Jackson struggled early and would ultimately only score two points on 1-10 (0-7 3PT) shooting from the floor. Kaela Hilaire came into the game off the bench and immediately provided a spark on offense, putting in six quick points in the first quarter. Donnaizha Fountain had a strong first half as well, posting nine points and hauling in seven rebounds.
At the end of the first half, despite shooting only 31 percent from the field, the Pirates still had themselves a game, trailing 30-22 at the intermission.
Things went started to go south in the third quarter and ultimately got out of reach in the fourth. The Pirates still could not find the bottom of the net as three pointers clanked off the rim and layups rolled in and out. Frustration on offense showed as the offense became one dimensional with players trying to figure out their jump shot one by one.
Seton Hall's offense suffered a major blow in the third quarter with an injury to junior transfer point guard Inja Butina. The Croatian leader took a hard fall in the third frame and was down for a lengthy spell before she was helped to the bench by Rutgers and Seton Hall trainers. She would not return the rest of the game.
Despite the injury and the shooting woes for the Pirates, the game was still within reach at the start of the fourth quarter, down 41-32.
That feeling would not last long however as the Scarlet Knight offense erupted in fourth for 29 points en route to the 70-45 victory. Rutgers shot a scorching 70 percent from the field in the final frame in including going 3-for-4 from three-point land.
Rutgers was paced by redshirt senior Tyler Scaife's 23 points. Stasha Carey also poured in 10 points along with 15 rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Donnaizha Fountain had team highs in points and rebounds with 10 and 11 respectively. Shadeen Samuels went for five points with 10 rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Pirates continue their tough three game stretch with game two up at Boston College. Catch all the action on 89.5 FM WSOU.
Alex Melillo can be reached at alexander.melillo@student.shu.edu.
