Pirates drop Second Consecutive Game to Columbia Lions

Published: Tuesday, December 9, 2025

by Victor Lisboa

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall Pirates (5-3) suffered a heartbreaking loss in Walsh Gymnasium against the Columbia Lions (7-4) by a final score of 54-53 on Tuesday night.

The start of the game looked promising for the Pirates. Jordana Codio got the first bucket of the game, and Seton Hall eventually took a 13-4 lead with a layup from Zahara Bishop. Shailyn Pinkney and Messiah Hunter followed with two more layups of their own as the 17-6 lead for the Pirates with 2:46 to go in the first was their biggest lead of the game.

The Pirates offense got off to a fast start against Columbia’s full court press and forced them into the half court. However, Columbia seemed to respond to every Pirate run and that started in the first quarter.

The Columbia Lions concluded the period on a 10-0 run and that cut the Pirate’s lead to one point to end the period at 17-16. The momentum Columbia built off their late first quarter run continued into the second.

After Eads hit the first bucket of the quarter, knifing through defenders for the layup, the Lions proceeded with a quick fast break layup, followed by a three-pointer to give Columbia their first lead of the game at 21-19. The Pirates then followed that up with a quick 8-3 run of their own, again highlighted by Jada Eads.

Shaquille O’Neal awarded Dwyane Wade the nickname “Flash” when he joined forces with him on the Miami Heat, because he’d get to the basket in an instant. That was Jada Eads tonight going against defenders, and she did it again to give the Pirates a 27-24 lead with 2:37 to go in the second.

Savannah Catalon followed up with a three pointer, and the Pirates led 30-26 at the half.

Coming out of the half, the Pirates got off to another auspicious start, going on an 8-0 run after Susie Rafiu got the first bucket of the period for the Lions. This might’ve been the best the offense looked all game for the Pirates as four of the five starters all got on the board scoring, moving the ball well along the way.

Jada Eads had another fast break layup to push the momentum towards the Pirates. Savannah Catalon’s three gave the Hall a 43-34 advantage with 3:34 to go in the quarter.

However, once again the Lions would quietly stick around and ended the quarter on an impressive 12-5 run to cut the lead to just two points at the end of the third. After Zahara Bishop hit two free throws to start the scoring in the fourth, Columbia’s star Riley Weiss hit a three to cut the deficit to just one point.

Valenzuela’s three pointer gave the Pirates a three-point lead with 5:40 remaining. Then both teams then entered a scoring drought for nearly four minutes, until Fliss Henderson got two quick layups to make it a 53-52 game with 1:22 remaining and the Pirates in the lead.

Then after Jordana Codio secured a rebound, the ball went out of bounds, initially on the Pirates with 17 seconds left. Coach Bozzella won a challenge to overturn this, and the Pirates retained possession.

However, Jada Eads was unable to secure the go-ahead basket with nine seconds left. After several long time outs, Columbia then had possession from securing the rebound after the Eads’ miss.

That was when Perri Page got the ball from the top of the key, executed a spin move, and gave the Lions a 54-53 lead to secure the third straight win for Columbia against the Pirates. Unlike the NC State game on Sunday, the Pirates won the rebounding battle in this contest, and had the lead for 34 minutes.

As a result, Coach Bozzella noted after the game “it's not about effort, it's about execution” as the Pirates lost their third game of the season, failing to maintain their lead late in games.

The Pirates will remain home with a chance to replenish their losing streak this Sunday when they play the Auburn Tigers at 1:00 P.M. where Joe Morales and Chris Heite will have the call for 89.5 FM WSOU.

Victor Lisboa can be reached at victor.lisboa@student.shu.edu 

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