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Preview: Pirates Finish Two-Game Road Trip at Providence

Date: January 15, 2022

By: Joe Matthews

Four members of the Seton Hall women's basketball team huddle together during a game.

Matt Kipp/Seton Hall Athletics

The Seton Hall women’s basketball team (6-7, 1-4 conference) will continue a road trip in a Sunday afternoon matinee against the Providence Friars (8-7, 3-3 conference).

The Pirates are coming off of a crushing loss in Creighton, where they lost 83-60. That game was particularly rough for perhaps the two biggest names on the roster. Lauren Park-Lane and Andra Espinoza-Hunter had only four points apiece and struggled to get anything going on the offensive end.

Due to the fact that she only had four points, Espinoza-Hunter is yet to reach the 1,000-point milestone in her career. She was 15 points away heading into that Creighton loss, and now stands only 11 away.

Espinoza-Hunter has scored at least 11 points in all but two games this season (one being Friday’s loss), so it stands to reason that we’ll likely see her reach that milestone in this upcoming showdown.

Also, despite the loss, the Pirates got a stellar performance against the Blue Jays from Curtessia Dean, who led the team in scoring with 13. She also grabbed nine boards, just one shy of a double double. Dean has been playing some great basketball as of late, scoring at least double figures in both of her last two games.

After seeing just limited minutes to start the season, Dean has started to get more playing time in recent weeks and has backed it up with great play. She’s carved herself out a role on this squad and will certainly be looking to keep it up in this matchup against the Friars.

As the Pirates look to get right, they’ll have a solid opponent in their way in the form of the Friars. Sitting just a game above .500, Providence has been a bit up-and-down on the year, but has some pretty impressive performances on their resume, including a 19-point win against Villanova in their Big East opener.

The Friars have a solid amount of talent and depth, with four players averaging double figures in scoring. However, perhaps the most impressive player on the squad is junior transfer Janai Crooms.

Crooms spent time at both Ohio State and Michigan State before transferring to Providence this season and has taken the program by storm. She leads the Friars in not only scoring with 13.6 points-per-game, but also rebounds-per-game with 10.3, and assists-per-game with 4.6.

The 5-foot-10 guard is a one-woman wrecking crew when out on the court, and she’ll pose as a tough matchup for the Pirates.

Providence is also a stout defensive team, holding opponents to just 60.9 points-per-contest. As the Pirates’ big time scoring duo of Park-Lane and Espinoza-Hunter aim to get back into form, they’ll certainly have their work cut out for them.

Big East play is always fun, and this game should be no different. With star power on both sides and big motivation to get a victory for the Pirates, the recipe is there for a great showdown.

Be sure to tune in to 89.5 FM WSOU for coverage of this conference matchup. Rony Jerez and Wilnir Louis will be on call at 1 p.m., and pregame coverage will start at 12:30 p.m.

Joe Matthews is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports and can be reached at joseph.matthews@student.shu.edu.

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

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