Pirates Prepare for Rematch against Friars

Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

by Victor Lisboa

 SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The Seton Hall women’s basketball team (13-5, 7-2 CONF) are returning home to Walsh Gymnasium to play the Providence Friars (10-10, 3-6 CONF). The Pirates are coming home from a brief one-game road trip in Chicago, where they defeated the DePaul Blue Demons 86-77.

The Pirates lost their starting point guard Jada Eads to injury in this game, but once again this deep roster was able to prevail. Zahara Bishop, Savannah Catalon, and Jordana Codio all notched over 20 points in the win.

This was the Pirates third consecutive win, as they now return home with momentum and confidence. The first game of this win streak was a road win in Providence, where the Pirates defeated the Friars 58-48 on January 8.

In that game, Seton Hall had a forgettable first half where they shot under 24% from the field. The Pirates did end up finding their rhythm in the second half of that game. This is not an uncommon script for this team, as they have had numerous games this season with slow starts.

However, this is a scrappy team, and their defense tends to spark offensive runs for them to put games away. Against Providence, they won the rebound, steals, and blocks battle, and scored nine points off of turnovers. This all indicates that their defense was the catalyst to their run, and to ultimately to win the game.

For this upcoming contest, it will be important to monitor Jada Eads’ status, as she was carried off the court with what seemed to be a lower body injury in their last game on Saturday. The starting point guard is averaging 10.6 points 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game this season on 35.8% shooting from the field.

Her all-around game has greatly contributed to the Pirates success this season. However, this team and roster is no stranger to adversity, and Coach Bozzella has shown success this season in preparing this roster for lineup changes.

The Providence Friars are led by Erin Batth, who is in her third season with the team. Last year, she helped coach the Friars to their highest finish in the standings since 2020-21, and in her first season she helped coach the team to their first post-season appearance since 2019 in the WNIT.

This season they sit at 10-10, currently eighth in the BIG EAST standings. This season, graduate student Sabou Gueye has been the Friars’ leading scorer, averaging 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, along with 1.9 steals and one block per game. This is the second and final matchup of the regular season for these BIG EAST rivals looking to extend their winning streaks.

Caitlin Barrar and Anthony Collins will have the call from Walsh Gym at 7:00 P.M. with pregame coverage getting underway at 6:30 on 89.5 FM WSOU.

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

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