Pirate Preview: Savannah Catalon ('26-'27)

Published: Friday, September 11, 2026

by Chris Heite

A unanimous selection for the ’25-’26 All-BIG EAST First Team. She was the Seton Hall Junior Female Athlete of the Year and… she is back. 

 

Savannah Catalon, the 5-foot-8 senior guard out of Mansfield, Texas, is back for her fourth year at the Hall. Catalon, who has been praised as a leader by Coach Tony Bozzella, is looking to make a major impact on a promising women’s basketball team this season.

 

There are certainly large expectations for Catalon, who had a rather exceptional ’25-’26 campaign. She played in and started all 32 games, averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game, and 4.6 rebounds per game. Notably she led the Big East in free throw percentage as well, with .892, which was the third-highest for a single-season in program history. 

 

While Catalon will be getting some help from the likes of incoming freshmen, as well as returning guard Ja’Kahla Craft, she will certainly be carrying the much of the offensive load for the Pirates this season. 

 

Reaching double figures 25 times last year, she will look to build upon it on Bozzella’s new-look squad. In the absence of Jada Eads, who transferred to Tennessee, Catalon will likely be looked at as the number one scoring option for the Pirates. 

 

Taking away all of the accolades and accomplishments for a moment, there are two skills that Catalon has brought to the program year after year: natural born leadership and on-court aggression.

 

Looking at leadership first, she is constantly communicating with her teammates each and every game, lifting them up in the highs and lows. This form of communication certainly does not go unnoticed and proves to be quintessential to the team’s success. 

 

With her exceptional leadership coming partly from communication throughout the game, she also leads by example with her signature on-court aggression. Whether the Pirates were up 20 or down 1, Catalon would continue to dive for balls going out of bounds and take high-speed charges in the paint.

 

Her aggression and physicality have proven to be quite the assets for Seton Hall throughout her time with the program, and one can infer they will continue to be for this upcoming season.

 

Catalon will certainly have her work cut out for her though, with a tough non-conference schedule to kick off the year. Matchups include the likes of Princeton, Auburn and even a Feast Week tournament with back-to-back days of games in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

 

However, with help of some retuning players, as well as Catalon continuing to lead the Pirates, this team will certainly be ready come the beginning of the season.

 

Catalon and the Pirates kick off their season officially with a homecourt matchup against Mercyhurst on Nov. 3.

 

As always, all of the action can be heard on 89.5 FM WSOU, the flagship station of Seton Hall Women’s Basketball. 

 

Chris Heite can be reached at christopher.heite@student.shu.edu 

Posted in: sports,