WSOU

Preview: Reeling Pirates Look to Secure Cruicial Win Over Wildcats on Saturday

Date: February 11, 2023

By: Andrew Raccuglia

Amari Wright on the court against Creighton.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

For the first time this season, Seton Hall Women’s Basketball (15-9, 8-6 CONF) will go head-to-head against their historic rivals, the Villanova Wildcats (21-4, 12-2 CONF) on Saturday afternoon.

It will be the first meeting between the two teams since they faced off in the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament semifinal round last March, where the Wildcats prevailed 64-55 before losing to UConn in the championship round.

The Pirates will be hungry for a win against one of the best teams in the BIG EAST this year, as it will be their first of three games in a critical five-day stretch to hopefully put themselves back in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Villanova has an impressive 21-4 overall record and a 12-2 record in BIG EAST play. After losing to then-No. 13 Creighton in early December, their only other conference loss was by five points to No. 5 UConn on Jan. 29. Since then, they are on a three-game winning streak, most recently with a walloping 82-53 win at Georgetown on Wednesday.

Leading the way for the Wildcats is none other than the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, Maddy Siegrist. The 6-foot-1 senior forward currently leads all of Division I women’s basketball this year with 28.2 points per game, holding a 52.4 percent field-goal percentage, shooting 39.4 percent from deep, as well as averaging 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, one steal, and 1.7 blocks. She does it all.

On Wednesday, Siegrist had 27 points and 12 rebounds against the Hoyas, while sophomore guard Kaitlyn Orihel followed with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from distance.

Seton Hall, on the other hand, did not get a much-needed victory in a home match against Creighton this past Tuesday, losing 77-64. Graduate forward Sidney Cooks had a game-high 27 points, going 5-of-7 from deep, but after heading into the locker room with three fouls, cautious play and being out-rebounded by 15 contributed to the Bluejays pulling away.

Senior guard Lauren Park-Lane had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but she made eight of them from the free throw line, being limited to 3-of-12 field-goal shooting and 0-3 from behind the arc. After making 6-of-12 three-point shots against Providence this past Saturday, the Creighton defense heavily limited her to their advantage.

Seton Hall allowed Creighton’s perimeter-heavy offense to make 11 three-pointers, when Cooks made all five of the Pirates’ 11 attempts. With sharpshooters Sha’Lynn Hagans and Victoria Keenan once again sidelined due to injuries, the Pirates simply could not stay in the game when they needed them the most.

Looking ahead to Saturday, this will be the last major road game on the Pirates’ regular season schedule. Villanova’s No. 15 ranking is the highest they have been since Dec. 2018, but it gives the Pirates a perfect opportunity.

Seton Hall will head into Finneran Pavilion not only looking to avenge their 2022 semifinal loss, but also their New Year’s Eve 2021 loss there, where they gave up a lead in the final five minutes to lose 76-73.

If history is any guide, the good news for the Pirates is that they have won every other game against Villanova in their last six meetings, dating back to the 2019-20 season. More importantly, there is a little bit of relief in only having four Wildcats averaging over 30.0 percent from three-point range, as opposed to all ten of Creighton’s players averaging 30.0 percent or more.

Besides the very important task of limiting Siegrist, the Pirates also need to cover sophomore guard Lucy Olsen, hold down junior guard Maddie Burke, and get past sophomore forward Christina Dalce.

Olsen is the second-leading scorer with 12.8 PPG, in addition to averaging four rebounds and 4.3 assists, going 42.9 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from behind the arc.

Burke averages 8.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and holds a FG% of 41.5 and 41.1 from deep. Dalce is very dangerous down low, averaging 6.8 points, with an incredible 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.   

Villanova, on the other hand, is going to try and exploit the chemistry between Park-Lane and Cooks, by getting Cooks into foul trouble and guarding Park-Lane to the extent that Creighton did, which produced a starkly different result from the Providence game.

The rebounding game is also going to be extremely heavy, as many jump balls in the Wildcats’ favor made the difference at Mohegan Sun Arena last March.

Park-Lane and Cooks are currently averaging 19.6 and 15.7 points respectively, but they are going to need someone like Azana Baines or Amari Wright to also have a great game and catch the Wildcats off-guard, both on defense and offense.

It would also be very beneficial in the slim possibility of Hagans, their third-leading scorer with the second-best FG% of 50.6, possibly returning after her ankle injury against St. John’s on Jan. 31. The co-captains are going to need all the offensive firepower they can get.

The Pirates are in desperate need of not just a big win, but a big string of wins to make their way back into the NCAA Tournament field with four weeks remaining until Selection Sunday. They are currently projected as one of the first eight teams out of the field, with six games remaining.

They have to win four of six to even be considered for the tournament, but beating the Wildcats at least once can give them a major boost. Win at Villanova, and they stand a great chance of sweeping DePaul on Monday and Wednesday, before playing 10th and 11th place Butler and Xavier, and then finally welcoming Villanova to Walsh Gym on Feb. 27.

It is going to be a very exciting game, and 89.5 FM WSOU will have you covered with Wilnir Louis and Joe Walls on the call from Finneran Pavilion. Coverage will begin at 12:45 p.m. before tip-off at 1:00 p.m.

Andrew Raccuglia can be reached at andrew.raccuglia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball, Game Previews

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