Preview: Pirates Look for Win in Home Showdown With Musketeers

Date: February 19, 2023

By: Ryan Johnston

This article was originally written on Feb 19, 2023

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

The Seton Hall Pirates (16-11, 9-8 CONF) are coming off a difficult stretch, playing three games in five days, winning one. Two came versus DePaul back-to-back on Monday and Wednesday, with Seton Hall winning the home game and losing on the road. They also fell to Villanova off a career game for Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer.

In their most recent game, which came in Chicago against DePaul, Azana Baines shined. She dropped a career-high 29 points, but her efforts weren’t enough to lift Seton Hall above the Blue Demons. Aneesah Morrow and Darrione Rogers had a combined 54 points, and DePaul won 94-89.

Z working hard down low!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/qO7vXEaPGM

— Seton Hall Women’s Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 16, 2023

Be on the lookout for the dynamic duo of Lauren Park-Lane and Sidney Cooks today. Cooks has had 19-plus points in each of her last four games, while Park-Lane finished with a career high of 39 in the Pirates’ first game against DePaul.

The Musketeers have had a difficult season. They’re 0-16 in conference and 7-18 overall for the year. Their last win this year came Dec. 9 against Cincinnati in a cross-town rivalry game. Coming into Seton Hall, they’re on the second of a three-game road stand, which they’ll finish up against Butler on Tuesday.

Their last matchup was a 73-53 loss against the Creighton Bluejays. Nila Blackford scored 17 points for Xavier on an efficient 7-of-10 from the field, but it wasn’t enough to lift them above Creighton.

The last time these two teams met was Dec. 2, with Seton Hall taking a dominant victory, 73-54. Kae Satterfield finished with 13 points and seven rebounds against her former team, while Park-Lane netted 24 of her own. Three players finished in double-figures for Xavier.

This is a must-win game for Seton Hall. The Pirates are currently ranked 59^th in the women’s NET rankings, meaning that if the season ended today, they could be on the outside looking into the NCAA tournament. With Butler and a ranked Villanova team coming up, they need every win they can get to put themselves in position for an at-large bid.

Be sure to tune into all the action on the Seton Hall women’s basketball flagship station 89.5 FM WSOU, where Matt Soetebeer and Michael Bellifemini will have the call.

Ryan Johnston can be reached at ryan.johnston@student.shu.edu.

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