Seton Hall drops UTSA, 84-53 in final Seton Hall Tip-off game

Date: November 11, 2018

By Wilnir Louis

The Seton Hall women’s basketball team (3-0 overall) put up another offensive showcase as they beat the UTSA Roadrunners, 84-53 in the final game of the Seton Hall Tip-off.

Showing almost no signs of fatigue in the first quarter, the Pirates came out of the gates on fire. A three-pointer by Seton Hall Tip-off MVP Shadeen Samuels gave the Pirates the early 3-0 lead. UTSA would then respond with a layup by Marie Benson. The Pirates answered Benson’s layup with a scoring barrage, going on a 10-0 run which included another three by Samuels and a three from Inja Butina. By the end of the first, the Pirates were up 35-13

The pace of the game would slow down considerably in the second quarter, as the Pirates only scored 20 points. Most of those points were due to Samuels, who went 3-4 and scored 7 points in the quarter. By the end of the first half, the Pirates lead 55-23. Samuels lead all scorers with 17 points, and behind her was the fellow forward, Femi Funeus, who had nine points on 4-7 shooting.

For a majority of the third quarter, the Pirates were going back and forth with the Roadrunners. Seton Hall saw their lead decrease to 29 points after a layup by Benson made the score 61-32 with four minutes left in the quarter. The Pirates went on a 13-1 run to end the quarter, which included five points in the final 27 seconds of the quarter after Kaity Healy made a three, and Desiree Elmore brought home a layup and end the quarter up 74-33.

In the fourth quarter, Seton Hall extended their lead to a game-high 43 after two free throws gave the Pirates a 76-33 lead with nine minutes left in the game. The Roadrunners would go on a run of their own, however, it was too late and as the final buzzer sounded, the Pirates were victorious.

After the game, Funeus (who finished 12 points on 5-9 shooting) credited her teammates with her recent success as a Pirate,

“Confidence and teamwork has a lot to do with it. [My] teammates [are] helping [me] become more comfortable during the game. If you mess up, they help you up instead of bringing you down and that helps a lot.”

Head coach Tony Bozzella also voiced the same admiration about his players.

“I’m proud of the kids, they played unselflessly and moved the basketball… We have to continue to play this way in order for us to be successful”

Looking ahead to the Princeton game, Bozzella acknowledges that it will be a challenge.

“I think Princeton is a very good team. They’re tough, physical, it’s on the road, and they’re going to take a lot of things away that we have success with so it’s going to be tough and we have to see how we adjust.”

The Pirates will go on their first road trip of the regular season as they play at Princeton on Nov. 16.

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

Posted in: Women's Basketball, Sports, WSOU