Credit: GR Productions
Seton Hall Sweeps St. John’s with Statement Road Win, 66-57
Published: Sunday, February 23, 2025
by A.J Rayer
QUEENS, N.Y - Seton Hall (19-8, 11-6) had control the entire way on the road in a 66-57 beatdown of St. John’s (14-13, 4-12) inside Carnesecca Arena. Savannah Catalon was excellent for the Pirates, as she finished with 19 points on 7-16 shooting.
One of the major problems with how the Pirates played the Red Storm in their first matchup at home earlier this season was the fact that the Pirates got off to a slow start in the first half. It took a fourth quarter comeback from the Pirates to pick up the crucial win at home.
This time around, Coach Bozzella and Seton Hall completely flipped the script. The Pirates jumped on St. John’s early and were the more physical team in the first half. Lops got the game started with a quick three to open scoring for both teams, and both Catalon and Masonius were going downhill and finishing through contact in the paint.
Defensively, the Pirates were aggressive with their on-ball defense on both St. John’s star guards, Ber’Nyah Mayo and Lashae Dwyer. The Pirates forced the Red Storm into 12 first half turnovers. St. John’s often tried to play too quickly, which led to bad passes and inconsistent offense.
Despite Seton Hall playing well, a long scoring drought lasted for most of the final minutes of the first half, allowing St. John’s to pull within reach. After 20 minutes of play, the Pirates held a 27-22 advantage, with Catalon leading the Pirates with nine points.
Out of halftime, the Seton Hall offense started getting hot from behind the arc. The Pirates connected on four three-pointers from Lops, Catalon, Eads and Lawson, on their way to a 12-0 run to start the first few minutes of the half. The Hall were moving the ball around and getting everyone involved.
About halfway through the third quarter, the Pirates' momentum was halted as they fell victim to another crushing injury. Five-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Jada Eads fell awkwardly and collapsed in what seemed to be an ankle injury. When Eads exited, she was not able to put any weight on her injured foot.
Despite losing Eads, Seton Hall kept their foot on the gas, as they continued to score bucket after bucket on the Red Storm. At one point, Seton Hall had a 21-point lead during the third quarter.
But in the fourth, St. John’s was able to cut into the Pirates lead and make the game interesting down the stretch. Kylie Lavelle had seven of her ten points in the quarter for the Red Storm. St. John’s also went to a press for the first time all game in the fourth quarter, which forced some Pirate turnovers.
Even with the Johnnies outsourcing the Pirates 21-15 in the 4th quarter, Seton Hall sealed the 66-57 win handily and picked up their 11th conference win of the season.
One of the main factors to Sunday’s game was that Seton Hall was able to get St. John’s in foul trouble with their aggressiveness in the paint. Lashae Dwyer fouled out in only 20 minutes of action for the Johnnies. Dwyer came into the matchup as St. John’s leading scorer on the season with 13.2 points per game, and played 36 minutes in their last matchup with Creighton.
The Pirates will look to keep their momentum rolling back at home on Thursday when they take on DePaul for the second time this season. Brian Henderson and Bobby Steiner will have the call for 89.5FM WSOU at 7:00 p.m., with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 p.m.
A.J Rayer can be reached at alexander.rayer@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,