On Saturday the women's basketball team lost their Big East opener at the Prudential Center in Newark to the number one ranked team in the country, the UConn Huskies.
The win for the Huskies was a historic one, as it was the 800th win in school history, and their 26th consecutive victory over the Hall.
In the first half, the Pirates got on the board early with an inside shot from sophomore forward Nicole Emery to make the score 2-0.
It took the Hall another seven minutes before they would put another point
on the board.
The Huskies went on an impressive 17-2 run that left the Pirates trailing by 14 points midway through the first half.
It was clear by the Hall's lack of offense early on that the zone defense of the Huskies was going to cause many problems. Only three times in the half did score more than once in the span of a minute.
The Pirates were only able to score eight more points before the end of the half, while UConn did not let up and led by 40 points going into the locker room, 52-12.
"We've had trouble scoring all year," Phyllis Mangina said. "And when you can't score against a team like this, things can get pretty bad."
Both Tina Charles and Kalana Green for the Huskies had 14 points, which was more than the whole Seton Hall team combined in the first half. Emery and junior guard Ebonie Williams both led the Pirates with 3 points in the opening half.
The Hall did not pick up their game much in the second half.
Despite Emery's three pointer to open up the half, the Huskies responded with a 16-4 run of their own that drained seven minutes off the clock, making the score 68-16.
Williams was able to stop the streaking Huskies with a three pointer, but
UConn kept attacking and put together yet another run.
This 14-6 explosion gave UConn a 60 point lead, 82-22, with six minutes remaining in the game.
The Pirates only scored once more down the stretch, thanks to an inside jumper courtesy of freshman forward Terry Green, as the Hall lost their first and only game at the Prudential Center of the season.
"You never want to see scores like today," Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's bad for both teams playing in the game."
For the Pirates, this was their third loss of the year, and currently are 4-3 on
the year. However, now that Big East play is underway, the Hall is going to have quite the competition ahead.
"You have to have a big ego and a short memory in this league," Mangina said. "We have to erase this and just move on."
The Pirates play next on Tuesday, when they host Syracuse at Walsh Gym.
