WSOU

Preview: Pirates Face Blue Demons at Walsh in Vital Late-Season Matchup

Date: February 13, 2023

By: Brian Henderson

Azana Baines on the court for the Pirates against Creighton.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

With just five games left in the regular season, the Seton Hall Pirates (15-10, 8-7 BIG EAST) are looking to bounce back at home against the DePaul Blue Demons (13-12, 6-8 BIG EAST).

The Pirates suffered a brutal loss at the hands of Maddy Siegrist and the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday. Siegrist dropped a 50-point double-double and routed the Pirates 99-65.

There’s going to be plenty of star power at historic Walsh Gymnasium, so the Pirates need big games from Sydney Cooks and Lauren Park-Lane.

Cooks has been cooking as of late. In her last three games, she’s scored 20 plus points each and done so on efficient shooting from the field, three, and the charity stripe.

In the tough loss to Villanova, she still put up 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three and 3-of-4 from the line. In addition to her offense, she also leads the Pirates in rebounds and in blocks.

Lauren Park-Lane is the composer of this Seton Hall offense. However, she’s coming off back-to-back games that weren’t quite up to her standard. She scored 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting in a loss to Creighton and scored 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting in Saturday’s loss to Villanova. However, Park-Lane doesn’t need to score to be effective. Her 152 assists on the year lead the team by over 100.

When looking at DePaul, everything starts and ends with star sophomore Aneesah Morrow. She’s been on another level this season. She’s scored over 20 points in nine of her last 11 games. She leads her team in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. She’s also recorded a double-double in nine of her last 11 games as well. She’s the focal point of the Blue Demons offense and defense.

While Morrow matches up with Cooks, Park-Lane will have her hands full with guarding Darrion Rogers. The junior from Chicago averages 17 points per game and is the de facto ball handler for the Blue Demons. She’s got 134 assists on the year, but can still go on scoring outbursts, like she did against Xavier, scoring 25 points.

These last five games are extremely important for the Pirates if they want a chance at avoiding the WNIT. With Shay Hagans back in the lineup, the Pirates look to end their two-game slide and finish the year strong.  

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at Walsh Gymnasium. Ryan Johnston and Michael Federico will be on the call, with pre-game coverage starting at 6:30 on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Brian Henderson can be reached at brian.henderson1@student.shu.edu.

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

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