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Preview: Seton Hall Plays South Dakota State in WNIT National Championship

Date: April 2, 2022

By: Chris Kiely

The Seton Hall women's basketball team celebrates during a WNIT Final Four game.

Seton Hall Athletics

After winning their sixth all-time bid for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, the Seton Hall Lady Pirates (24-12) are now 40 minutes away from the 2022 WNIT Championship. Their opponent that stands in the way of this are the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (28-9).

In a tournament identical to the NCAA tournament, the Pirates path to Brookings, S.D. has been a treacherous one. It started with a game against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, who played the Pirates tough for three quarters, before Seton Hall ended the game on a 16-0 fourth quarter run.

Directly after that, the Pirates beat the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, where they nearly choked away a 16-point fourth quarter lead and were a last possession, VCU-three from heading to overtime.

The Sweet 16 only got more difficult, as the Pirates were in a back-and-forth game against the Drexel Dragons in Walsh Gymnasium. They would come out victorious, however, thanks to a 29-point and 11-assist game by Lauren Park-Lane.

In the Elite Eight, the Pirates traveled across the Hudson River to Manhattan, N.Y. to face the Columbia Lions. There, the Lady Pirates escaped with an 78-75 upset, thanks in large part to the team’s perfect 20/20 free-throwing shooting.

In the Final Four, the Pirates experienced another heart pounding game in Murfreesboro, Tenn. against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

Trailing by four with 23 seconds remaining, Lauren Park-Lane secured a three-point play, and the Pirates forced a turnover. With 15 seconds remaining and trailing by one, Andra Espinoza-Hunter dished it inside to Sidney Cooks for a layup with three seconds remaining to send the Pirates to the championship in a 74-73 win.

To be in a position like the Pirates are in right now, it requires skill, a little bit of luck, and star players. For the Pirates, they have shown all three of those off in this tournament run, particularly in their stars.

In the last five games, Park-Lane, Espinoza-Hunter, and Cooks have all scored double digits in all but one of the tournament games. In big games like these, these star players have to step up, which they all have done thus far.

Park-Lane has been virtually unstoppable, averaging 25 points and seven assists in the WNIT. There are times when everyone can see a player elevating their game, and she has been doing just that. A win against the Jackrabbits and she would be the clear player of the tournament winner.

For South Dakota State, there travel to this WNIT championship has been much more different. Their first three games were all won by 18+ points against Ohio, Minnesota, and Drake. They then won against the Crimson Tide by five and the UCLA Bruins by just three.

Now, with all six of their games being played in the Frost Arena, the Jackrabbits have proven they are not a team from the Summit League to be taken lightly.

With five players averaging nine-plus points, the Jackrabbits have been a team by committee. Their backcourt of Paige Meyer and Tylee Irwin, along with the frontcourt of Tori Nelson, Paiton Burckhard, and Myah Selland have made them very versatile as a whole.

However, during this WNIT run, guard Haleigh Timmer has been the scorer with the hot hand. In the three of the five WNIT games, she has led the team in scoring, with Selland having the other two. With this amount of distribution, South Dakota State’s unpredictability will not make it an easy for Seton Hall head coach Tony Bozzella to prepare for them defensively.

As for Coach Bozzella’s plan for the offense, you can expect an increase in Cooks’ looks as the main focus. With her superb performance last time out and with a major mismatch in height in favor of the Pirates, Cooks posting up on the block could increase massively.

Lastly, when the game hits that fourth quarter, the Pirates should make it a requirement to have possessions that consists of giving the ball to Park-Lane and getting the heck out of the way. Her fourth quarter performances against Drexel, Columbia, and Middle Tennessee State have proven this to be clearly successful when the Pirates were in dire need of a basket.

With two programs wanting to send a big notice to the selection committee for next year, expect drama at the offset in Brookings, S.D. between these two teams on Saturday afternoon. 89.5 FM WSOU has it all covered with the pregame coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. and tip-off at 3 p.m. with Liam Plate and Wilnir Louis on the call.

Chris Kiely can be reached at christopher.kiely@student.shu.edu.

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

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