Pirates triumph over St. Francis Brooklyn, 100-77

Date: November 25, 2018

By Wilnir Louis

The Pirates put up triple digits for the second time this season behind Shadeen Samuels career-high 29 points as they beat St. Francis Brooklyn 100-77 in Walsh Gymnasium on Sunday.

The Pirates began the game on fire. Scores by Kimi Evans, Samuels, and Victoria Cardaci would give the Pirates an early 9-0 lead before the Terriers had to call a timeout to talk it over. After the timeout, Ally Lassen would put St. Francis Brooklyn on the board with an easy layup under the basket. However, Cardaci would answer their two points with three points of her own to give the Pirates a 12-2 lead with 5:50 left in the first. The Pirates would continue to grow their lead, and a last second three by Samuels gave the Pirates a 28-12 lead after one quarter.

Samuels would continue prove that she is a shooter behind the arc. After a three by Maria Palarino, Samuels would match that with a three at the left wing. Then on a fast break, Jimenez would assist another three by Samuels to give the Pirates a 36-17 lead with 8:05 left in the half. The Terriers would begin to bring down their deficit to 13 points, after a layup by Jade Johnson made the score 38-25. Both teams would go at it scoring, and the Pirates would go into the halftime break up 50-36.

In the third quarter, no team was able to grasp momentum. Amy O’Neil went to the line early after a foul by Kaela Hilaire. O’Neil went 2-2 on the line to make the score 50-38 with 9:38 left in the third. The Pirates went to extend their lead to 17 after a put-back layup by Evans made the score 55-38. The Terriers would continue to put up a fight, and at the end of third, the Pirates led 69-59.

To begin the fourth, the Pirates were raining threes. Three-pointers by Jimenez and Samuels gave the Pirates a 78-61 lead with 8:46 left in the game. They continued to extend their lead, and a layup by Samuels gave the Pirates a 23-point lead. Another layup by Samuels made the score 97-68 with 2:50 left, and Jimenez made a three-pointer to bring the Pirates to triple digits for the second time this season.

After the game, head coach Tony Bozzella had high praise for Hilaire, who had extended minutes after the injury to Inja Butina early in the game.

“That’s why we have good players, they need to step up and do what their supposed to do. As many points as she scored, I was happy she had nine assists and only one turnover.”

As for Samuels, who had her career high in points, coach Bozzella there was a different aspect of her game that impressed him.

“I was really proud of what she did defensively. We put her on her best player and she did a real good job helping us out.”

The Pirates return to action on Tuesday when the welcome UMass Lowell to Walsh Gymnasium. Tip off will be at 7 P.M. and all of the action will be on 89.5 FM WSOU and the iHeartRadio app.

Wilnir Louis can be reached at wilnir.louis@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU