Pirates Look to Get Back on Track in Omaha against Rival Bluejays

Published: Monday, December 22, 2025

by Darren Worrell

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Seton Hall Pirates (7-4, 1-1) hit the road, this time out West, to take on their BIG EAST rival in the Creighton Bluejays (6-5, 2-0) at DJ Sokol Arena on Monday evening.

This game marks the 30th meeting between the two teams, with the Bluejays holding a 23-6 advantage over the Pirates. Creighton has won 14 of the last 15 matchups, including sweeping the series last year and winning 73-44 in the BIG EAST Tournament.

Seton Hall enters this matchup after a 77-55 loss to Villanova at the Finneran Pavillion. The Pirates started strong, but Villanova caught fire from three, shooting 7 of 12 with Ryanne Allen shooting a perfect five of five. The Pirates cut into the lead here and there, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Despite the defeat, Jada Eads finished with a team high of 12 points, four rebounds and two steals while Catalon finished with 11 points and six rebounds, surpassing 700 career points.

This was the first game this season in which the Pirates did not lead at halftime or forced their opponent into more turnovers.

Looking ahead to Creighton, their lineup has changed significantly, with four key seniors, Morgan Maly, Lauren Jensen, Molly Mogensen and Mallory Brake graduating and others leaving for the transfer portal,

This Creighton team is much younger, with seven newcomers joining this year’s team this season.

This team now relies on two seniors, Kiani Lockett and Kennedy Townsend, who scored 195 points and 190 points last season, respectively.

In addition, this year’s freshman class is the highest rated freshman class in program history, featuring three top 100 recruits: Ava Zediker, and twins Neleigh and Norah Gessert. Previously, Creighton had only two top 100 recruits.

They are led by the two freshman Neleigh Gessert who is averaging 12.5 points per game and Ava Zediker who is averaging 12.2 points per game.

This matchup will be tough for both teams. For the Pirates to win the game, they must minimize the fouls, as Creighton leads the BIG EAST in free throw percentage at 81.3% as a team. They also must defend the three-point line and force the Bluejays inside. Creighton is just 2-3 at home this year, so the Pirates should look to take full advantage of that.

Tune into 89.5 FM WSOU, where Sean Casey and Christian Olivieri will have the call at 4:00 P.M. on Monday.

Darren Worrell can be reached at darren.worrell@student.shu.edu 

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