Pirates Welcome Georgetown to Walsh for New Year’s Eve Matchup

Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2025

by Ross Vocaturo

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The Seton Hall Pirates (9-4, 3-1) look to put a bow on their 2025 calendar year when they play host to the Georgetown Hoyas (8-4, 1-2) in a Wednesday matinee at Walsh Gymnasium.

The Pirates have seemingly righted the ship for the moment, winning their last two BIG EAST matchups at Creighton and then against Xavier after a tough loss at Villanova on December 19.

Seton Hall is 6-1 overall on their home floor thus far, with their lone loss being the gut wrencher against Columbia on December 9. Georgetown will be the third BIG EAST team to make the trip to South Orange this season, with the Pirates beating Xavier earlier this week and Butler back on December 4. 

In the Pirates’ 75-55 win over the Musketeers, Savannah Catalon led the way in the points column with 24, tying her season-high, and good enough to earn her third BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll nod of the season.

Mariana Valenzuela, who was recently named BIG EAST Player of the Week, shot 60% from behind the arc en route to her second double-double of the season (16 points, 10 rebounds). Jada Eads led the team with seven assists, her season high.

It was not entirely smooth sailing for the Pirates against Xavier, as a coughed up second quarter saw Seton Hall only up by three at halftime. However, Coach Bozzella’s squad got rolling in the second half, outscoring the Musketeers 45-28 in the final 20.  

The Pirates are 4-1 since Coach Bozzella tweaked his starting five prior to the game against Auburn on  December 14. Zahara Bishop and Messiah Hunter have both made names for themselves since entering the starting fold, replacing Shailyn Pinkney and Jordana Codio who have stayed as key contributors to the team despite the moves.

Pinkney scored 21 off of the bench at Creighton, while Codio has had double figures in three of five games off the bench. Barring any last-second changes, the starting five is still expected to be Bishop, Hunter, Catalon, Valenzuela, and Eads. 

For the Hoyas, led by Darnell Haney, the 2024-25 campaign was one to forget, going 4-14 in BIG EAST play and 12-29 overall. They are currently 2-1 in conference play and are fresh off a 76-74 victory against Creighton, despite being outscored 27-12 in the fourth quarter.

Two of Georgetown’s returning starters from last season were inactive in the win: Victoria Rivera for personal reasons and Khadee Hession due to illness. In their absence, guard Destiny Agubata posted a double-double in her first career start, with 16 points and 14 rebounds. 

Both the Pirates and Hoyas have had trouble closing out games this season. Oddly enough, the aforementioned wins against Creighton saw them both cough up leads of 16 and 17 points respectively, despite both prevailing their leads in eventual wins against the Blue Jays.

Yet playing a full 60 minutes has been hard to come by for Coach Bozzella’s group and is a point of focus as conference play continues to roll on. 

Seton Hall leads the all-time series 47-30, including winning the last three meetings. The Pirates and Hoyas only met once last season, a 74-71 overtime win for Seton Hall that saw 27 points from Jada Eads, which remains her career high. 

Catch Ryan Nelke and Jacob Nieczypor on the call for a 1:00 P.M. tipoff on Wednesday between the Pirates and Hoyas on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Ross Vocaturo can be reached at ross.vocaturo@student.shu.edu 

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