Late Cold Spell Ends Seton Hall’s Season in WBIT Loss to Missouri

Published: Friday, March 20, 2026

by Caitlin Barrar

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall Pirates’ WBIT run — and their season — came to a disappointing end Thursday night, as they fell 67-57 to No. 4 Missouri at Walsh Gym. 

With both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm for much of the night, it was clear the winner would be the one to make timely shots down the stretch. On Thursday, that was Missouri. 

It was a battle from beyond the arc and the Pirates had their way early. Back-to-back threes from Mariana Valenzuela opened the scoring for Seton Hall. Valenzuela led the team with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Still, a recurring theme emerged in the opening quarter: every time the Pirates went on a run, they were unable to fully capitalize, allowing Missouri to hang around and eventually claw back into the game. 

For a Pirates defense that struggled defending the three all season long, Seton Hall did an impressive job holding one of the nation’s better three-point shooting teams to under 20% in the first half.

Missouri, however, had their way in the paint, outscoring Seton Hall 34-22 inside. Aside from a few gritty plays from Zahara Bishop and Ja’Kahla Craft, the momentum began to swing in the Tigers’ favor heading into the break.

Craft finished second on the team in scoring, putting up a 15-point performance in her return from an injury that kept her sidelined for the past month.

The Pirates knew it would not be long before Missouri found their rhythm offensively, led by Grace Slaughter and Jordana Reisma. Slaughter headlined the Tigers’ late offensive surge finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Reisma ended with 17 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor.

Despite a stifling press that allowed the Pirates to go on an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter, turnovers and fouls kept the door open for the Tigers to respond. Missouri ended the quarter on a 10-2 run to tie the game up at 52 heading into the final frame. 

In the heat of the battle of this low scoring affair, the Pirates went cold at the worst time. They scored only five points in the fourth and shot just 1-of-16 in the final eight minutes. In that stretch, they also committed five turnovers.

In the end, Seton Hall was unable to hit high-percentage shots and convert on their fast break opportunities.

Though it did not end in the way they wanted it to, this was a Pirates team that battled through adversity all year. Seton Hall rarely played at full strength, maneuvered a very difficult schedule, and yet, still was able to finish third in a strong BIG EAST as well as make the postseason. By any measure, it was a successful season – even if it ended earlier than the Pirates hoped. 

Missouri will now head to Utah to face BYU on Sunday in the second round, while Coach Bozzella’s team will look ahead to a promising offseason.

Caitlin Barrar can be reached at caitlin.barrar@student.shu.edu

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