Seton Hall
Women take home 95-81 exhibition victory over Jefferson
Date: November 1, 2018By Michael Daly
Seton Hall defeated Jefferson 95-81 on Thursday night in Walsh Gymnasium.
In the first quarter of play, the Pirates started out hot as they went on a 16-1 run. Four free throws and a layup by Rams guard Alynna Williams brought her team’s deficit within ten points as they trailed 16-6. The Pirates began to pull away towards the end of the quarter, thanks to a three pointer by graduate guard Victoria Cardaci. The Pirates finished the first quarter with a 31-18 lead over Jefferson.
To start off the second quarter, the Rams cashed in on four free throw opportunities and were down by only ten points 34-24. With the score being 36-28 at the 6:49 mark, Seton Hall’s Cardaci knocked down another three pointer to extend the lead to 11 points 39-28. Exactly at the one minute mark, Jessica Kaminski of Jefferson flushed two free throws and her team only trailed by a score of 48-37.
Femi Funeus’s layup with 42 seconds left in the half, extended the Pirate lead to 13 points. Jefferson’s Caitlin Cunningham was fouled and made the two free throw attempts with under ten seconds left in the second quarter. On the next play, senior guard Inja Butina was charged with a personal foul which led to two made free throw attempts. The score at the end of the half was 50-39.
Seton Hall maintained control of the game to start off the third quarter when the defense capitalized on Erin Maher’s turnover and Kaity Healy nailed a three pointer in transition. This heads up play by the Pirate defense resulted in a 13 point advantage. The Hall broke away from the Rams when they were up by a score of 80-49 after a made free throw by Butina. Jefferson managed to score four more points to conclude the third quarter with a score of 81-53.
At the eight minute and thirty-three second mark in the fourth quarter, Selena Philoxy’s layup resulted in the Pirates’ largest lead of the night, as they were ahead 85-53. Jefferson managed to stage a miraculous comeback as they went on a 24-2 run and the momentum completely shifted. At the two minute and forty-three second mark, Nicole Jimenez hit a three pointer to extend her team’s lead to 90-77. Despite the late scare, the Pirates would hang on to a 14 point victory 95-81.
When discussing his team’s struggles on defense late down the stretch, Coach Bozzella said that “We did not do a good enough job with our defensive rebounds and we were letting the other girls get into the paint too easily. For next Tuesday, we have to work on grabbing rebounds on defense.”
Graduate guard Cardaci led the team with 20 points. Nicole Jimenez complimented the box score with another 17 points on the night. Funeus was the leading rebounder on the night with 15 boards.
Following the exhibition victory, Seton Hall looks to start their season off with a victory as they host Wagner College on Tuesday at 2PM.
Michael Daly can be reached at michael.daly@student.shu.edu
Posted in: Women's Basketball, Sports, WSOU
