Seton Hall
Pirates limit Reed to nine points in 53-33 win over VCU
Date: November 12, 2019By: Christian Gardner
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Seton Hall Pirates defeated the VCU Rams, 53-33. This is the third time ever the Pirates met the Rams. Last time these two teams met some of the players on both rosters had not been born yet.
The Pirates controlled the game on defense throughout the whole game. Pirates did well to open the game on defense forcing two turnovers in the first two ram possessions. In the first quarter the Pirates completely shut down the Rams offense. The Pirates closed out the first quarter on a 13-0 run with VCU not scoring in the final six minutes of the game.
The scoring attack was simply not there in the first quarter with the Rams shooting a total seven percent (1/14). When senior Alexis Lewis was asked about these defensive numbers in the first quarter she stated, “We preached defense all week.”
Which was evident the whole game. After the end of the first quarter the score read 17-4 in favor of the Pirates. Offense was lackluster for not just the Rams but the Pirates as well given that the score remained 0-0 until two minutes into the game. This was an omen for things to come for both teams on the offensive end.
In the second quarter the Rams looked to quickly attack. The Rams were led by their leading scorer from a year ago, junior Terra Reed, on a 6-0 run. The offense for the Pirates struggled as they had three straight turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Luckily, the Pirates found their groove back on defense creating another Rams significant scoreless drought.
At the end of the half the score was 25 – 15. Unusual so far this season for the Pirates given that were a top 50 offense in the nation coming into the game but was held to eight points in one quarter. Both teams struggled in shooting with no team shooting above 30% from the field after the first half. Although the Rams have the height advantage with junior Sofya Pashigoreva standing at 6-feet-6-inches. Junior Selena Philoxy tied with Pashigoreva off the bench with seven rebounds in the first half. With a lack luster start on offense for both teams one player who could catch fire for either team could be the difference.
In the third quarter the Pirates began to separate themselves from the Rams. The Pirate shooters began to get in rhythm. Freshman Mya Jackson hit two threes coming off the bench but the play of Lewis really opened the game up. Lewis finished the game leading all scorers with 13 points and was all over the court with four steals. After the game Lewis said that “I never wanna come out of a game saying I didn’t give my all.”
Things continued to roll for the Pirates in the 4 th quarter on both sides of the ball. The Pirates held the Rams to 27 percent from the field as well as never allowing a three even though the Rams had ten attempts. The Pirates forced 24 turnovers and won the rebound battle 46 – 35. Senior Shadeen Samuels had the game high 11 rebounds. She had this to say about the physicality seen in the rebound battle. “We knew they were a big team, we know we couldn’t out jump them, so we harped on a lot about boxing out.”
Even though the team struggled on offense the Pirates were able to secure the win off their defensive effort. Head coach Tony Bozzella said after the game how immensely proud he was of the team’s play tonight. “Our defense was fantastic. To hold any team, let alone the preseason A-10 favorite to 33 points shows that we’ve really come a long way in what we want to do and what we believe in.”
Coach Bozzella added that what created the defensive success was that the team “new the scout” and that there were no egos. “The girls really deserve all the credit today."
The Pirates will next take on Princeton in Walsh Gymnasium on Friday at 7:30 p.m to wrap up their homestand.
Christian Gardner can be reached at christian.gardner@student.shu.edu.
Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball
