WSOU

Women's basketball drops to Xavier at home, 80-76

Date: February 1, 2019

By Jose Feliciano

 

The Seton Hall Pirates could not redeem themselves as the Xavier Musketeers downed the Pirates 80-76, marking the second time this season that Seton Hall fell at the Walsh.

 

Reigning Big East Player of the Week Shadeen Samuels scored 26 points while Nicole Jimenez and Inja Butina and scored 19 and 15 apiece. Xavier meanwhile with the win have now swept the Pirates this season after only beating them one other time prior to the season. They now have their only two Big East wins against them this season.

 

The Pirates shot 47% from the field and actually hit more shots than Xavier, but the Musketeers hit six more 3-pointers as well as 17 free throws compared to Seton Hall’s 13. The defense struggled to contain Xavier’s three-point attack and it showed in the box score. When asked about what was missing defensively, Coach Tony Bozzella said after the game “Everything. I thought the communication skills here terrible, we didn't understand the game plan at all, we allowed them to have way too many shots.”

 

Xavier finished the game with four double-digit scorers and as a team shot 13 three-pointers in the win. Owens finished with 21 points and A’riana Gray had a double-double as she scored 16 and brought down 12 boards.

 

The Pirates got off to a terrible start after Xavier opened the game with a 9-0 run. Seton Hall came back strong and took a brief lead until Xavier took it right back. The Musketeers ended the first quarter with a bang as Xavier guard Na'Teshia Owens hit a three at the buzzer to put Xavier up by four.

 

It was more of the same for Seton Hall in the second quarter as the Pirates ended the quarter still down by four as both teams scored 21. The defense could not stop the three ball in the entire first half as Xavier hit seven of them in the half. The offense was stagnant as well as Nicole Jimenez was the highest scorer outside of Samuels with six points going into halftime.

 

The Musketeers kept their foot on the gas pedal after the half as they ripped an 13-0 and on the Pirates midway through and finished the quarter on a 17-2 run. The Pirate offense only shot 25% from the field and could not contain Xavier inside or outside of the paint as they hit four three-pointers and scored eight points in the paint. Seton Hall was outscored 24-11 in the quarter.

 

The Pirates were never going to go without a fight in the fourth, as they opened the quarter with a 7-0 run. The Musketeers hit a pair of three-pointers, but the Pirates countered with a pair of three-point plays of their own. They managed to go on another run, this time for eight straight points to pull them within six with less than two minutes in regulation. The Pirates, thanks to some heroics from Samuels and Jimenez, pulled with two with 8.8 seconds left.

 

After stealing the ball on an inbound pass, Selena Philoxy was immediately called for a travel. Jimenez was forced to foul and Xavier hit a pair of free throws to ice the game. When asked about the high amount of close games the Pirates have played, Coach Bozzella said “At some point we have to take control of the game. This game was not that close, they dominated us… We made a run and I thought we could make a run… I think at some point I think we’re goifind a different way to have other people score.”

 

The Pirates will try to get back to their winning ways next Sunday when they face off against the second place Butler Bulldogs (17-4 Overall, 7-3 Big East) at Historic Walsh Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. while pre-game coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on 89.5 FM WSOU, the flagship station for Seton Hall Women’s Basketball.

 

Jose Feliciano can be reached at jose.feliciano@student.shu.edu.

 

 

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU

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