Women's basketball suffers first loss to UCLA, 78-62

Date: November 18, 2018

By Evando Thompson

The Seton Hall Women’s basketball team ended up on the losing end for the first time this season, as the Pirates were defeated by the UCLA Bruins 78-62 on Sunday night.

In the first half, Seton Hall was able to create turnovers, forcing UCLA to cough up the ball 6 times. However, the Pirates just could not turn the turnovers to points on the other end as they shot 39 percent from the field.

The actual first half box score was also misleading, with the Pirates competing back and forth with UCLA. Seton Hall’s free throw shooting in the first two quarters contributed to the point disparity. Although forward Shadeen Samuels and guard Inja Butina each had seven first half points, the team went one for nine from the charity stripe which put them in an 11-point hole.

In the third quarter, Seton Hall saw the game slip out of their reach as UCLA gained a larger lead. As the cold shooting from the field continued to haunt the Pirates, UCLA went on a 9-0 run in the quarter to build their lead to 20.

In the fourth quarter, the Pirates refused to give up, having different spurts of scoring in efforts to get back in the game. Shadeen Samuels had an and-one layup followed by a Kaela Hilaire steal and layup to bring the Pirates within 12.

Unable to stop the scoring on defense, the Pirates could not get back in the game as the comeback attempt was too little too late.

The Pirates also were not active on the glass, surrendering the rebounding edge to the Bruins. Aside from Samuels, who had her second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, the Pirates could not contribute enough in terms of rebounds. UCLA outrebounded the Hall by more than 20, as they had multiple second chance possessions.

Falling to 4-1 this season, the Seton Hall women’s basketball team will return to Walsh Gymnasium as they start a three-game homestand. The first of three home games will be against St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m.

Evando Thompson can be reached at evando.thompson@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU