WSOU

Preview: Seton Hall Women's Basketball travels to take on #2 UConn

Date: February 10, 2021

By: Jonathan Heite

Picture1

Seton Hall Athletics

Tonight is certainly a matchup Seton Hall had circled on their schedule for a long time.  In a game filled with superstar talent across the board, the red-hot Pirates (9-3, 7-2 conference) will look to upset the number two ranked UConn Huskies (14-1, 11-0 conference) at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.  Both teams are firing on all cylinders coming into this contest, and although this game was originally supposed to take place back on January 12 and was postponed due to COVID-19, there are a plethora of storylines on both sides.

On December 15, 2020, UConn began their quest of re-conquering the Big East after an eight-year hiatus by taking care of the Pirates, 92-65, at the Walsh Gymnasium.  Led by standout sophomore point guard, Lauren Park-Lane, the Pirates only trailed by eight points to the national powerhouse at halftime.  Park-Lane would finish the game with a game-high 29 points, but the second half would be controlled by the freshman phenom herself, Paige Bueckers, who dropped 25 points after a slow start to the game.

Picture2

theuconnblog.com

Despite Park-Lane actually out-scoring Bueckers in the contest, UConn would run away with the victory and would continue to build upon their early season dominance in the early stages of the COVID-riddled season. Since then, the Huskies have played like the national powerhouse head coach Geno Auriemma had envisioned them to be over the past three decades, destroying Big East competition and only losing one game along the way, which was on January 28 against #18 Arkansas.

As the number one ranked player in the 2020 national recruiting class, Paige Bueckers has both surpassed the enormous expectations expected of her and has been the face of women’s college basketball all season long.  All of this was cemented once again in the Huskies’ 63-59 overtime thriller victory over the #1 South Carolina Gamecocks on Monday night, where the 19-year-old Minnesota native carried UConn with an astounding 31 points, including the team’s final 13 points down the stretch.  The crafty guard recorded her third consecutive 30-point performance, which is a feat that no one has ever accomplished in the entire storied UConn women’s basketball program.

So how can the Pirates stop this generational talent on her home floor, who just single-handedly took down the number one team in the country?

If not for the last game heroics by Bueckers a few nights ago, or COVID-19 rescheduling this rematch to almost a month later, the main headline would have definitely involved Seton Hall transfer guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter, who has not only become the number one scoring option for the Pirates during her first eight games in South Orange, which includes back-to-back Big East Women’s Basketball Player of the Week titles, but actually played her freshman season with Auriemma at UConn.

Picture3

Patrick UConn/Icon Gorski via Sportswire Images

While most fans only know the guard from her past two seasons at Mississippi State, where she drained 90 threes and helped spark the Bulldogs to NCAA tournament runs, including an Elite-8 appearance in 2019, Espinoza-Hunter played seven games for the 36-1 Huskies in 2018.  Although she has not been part of the Connecticut program for a long time, emotions will surely be high playing against her old team who has a new superstar leading the way.

In the Pirates’ hard-fought 60-52 win against the Georgetown Hoyas on Monday night, the former Huskie led the team in scoring with 18 on an off-shooting night, but still scored nine clutch points in the fourth quarter to deliver the victory. Coming off a 17-day break, the squad struggled from the field collectively (19.7%) during the first three quarters but sharpened up defensively and came alive in the fourth to give the Pirates their sixth straight win, which the Tony Bozella-coached team has not accomplished since the 2015-2016 season.

Senior Desiree Elmore also tallied 15 points, five rebounds, and four steals, and sophomore Lauren-Park Lane added 12 in the close win, and along with Espinoza-Hunter (who did not play the Huskies in round one), the new Seton Hall big three will need to score at will against UConn to pull off the upset.  While the Pirates were able to squeak out a defensive victory against the Hoyas, the whole team has to shoot more efficiently and jump out ahead earlier to keep up with the Huskies’ high octane scoring attack.

Along with this trio’s offensive production, other key contributors such as sophomore Mya Jackson (11.5 points-per-game), senior Jasmine Smith (11 points against Georgetown), redshirt junior Alexia Allesch (6 points and 6.4 rebounds a game), and transfer sophomore Mya Bembry (4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds average) will all need to hit clutch baskets and play exceptional defense to dethrone the Huskies.

Picture4

Noah K. Murray/Associated Press

On the UConn side, the team has an excellent supporting cast behind Bueckers, including Big East Preseason Player of the Year Christyn Williams (16.1 points-per-game), junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa (13 points and 7.1 rebounds a game), and freshman Aaliyah Edwards (9.4 scoring average). Bueckers was the only Husky to score in double figures against South Carolina, so look for these other players to bounce back and take pressure off the freshman in the scoring department.

Will Espinoza-Hunter and the Pirates take down her former team in Connecticut?  Will Bueckers and the Huskies continue their winning ways and put Seton Hall away once again?  The only way to find out is by tuning into 89.5 FM WSOU, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:00 and tip-off at 6:30.  From our studio located in South Orange, the great Michael Daly and Liam Plate will have the call.

Jonathan Heite can be reached at jonathan.heite@student.shu.edu.

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

Seton Hall

Seton Hall

Merchandise

wsou store