On Saturday the Seton Hall women's basketball team will look to win on the road for the first time this year as they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Pirates (3-5) are winless on the road this year and dropped their last game to South Carolina at Walsh Gymnasium on Sunday.
Wake Forest is having the same struggles as the Pirates, where both teams are winless on the road, but are showing that they can win at home.
After struggling through a tough matchup with South Carolina, the Pirates continue to have that lack of rebounding that has cost them on the road early on in the year.
Head coach Anne Donovan said she sees the transition offense working well for the Pirates and that they just need to rebound in order to get out in transition.
"It's been a focus of our staff, and it's very disappointing when you go into a game and you realize that's where we lost the game," Donovan said. "It's something we continue to focus on but it's not translating and it needs too."
When the Pirates are able to rebound they are able to score. They are averaging 34.6 rebounds a game, where their opponents are averaging 39.6. Wake Forest is just like the Pirates where they struggling to rebound the ball. Both teams get out rebounded on average by their opponents.
Wake Forest is a team that likes to score the basketball; they are averaging 62.1 points per game, while the Pirates are averaging 49.4.
The Pirates are known as more of a defensive team than Wake Forest where they give up 59.4 points per game compared to Wake Forest's 76.6 points per game.
The Demon Deacons have three players that average over 32 minutes a game in Asia Williams, Lakevia Boykin and Chelsea Douglas. Theyare three out of the four leading scorers for Wake Forest.
Boykin is a senior guard who is the leading scorer for Wake Forest averaging 14.0 points per game. Douglas is a junior guard averaging 12.9 points per gamewhile Asia Williams is a senior guard who is averaging 9.0 points per game.
With their three headed backcourt, the Pirates will look for consistent play from their backcourt players in senior guard Brittany Morris and redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons.
Morris has been a leader for the Pirates in her senior season where she is average a team high 12.3 points per game, the only Pirate averaging in double figures this season.
This is the second matchup between these two teams in as many seasons. Last year the Pirates fell to Wake Forest at home 60-44. The Pirates did win the rebounding battle 51 to 38 in the last matchup despite the loss.
The Pirates go on the road to face another team from a power conference in Wake Forest. This will be the Pirates' third game against a power conference team.
"I have put us into a changeling situation with all the opponents we have played," said Donovan. "Our motto has been to play to get experience."
The Pirates take on Wake Forest at 2 p.m. this Saturday in Winston-Salem, NC.
Joseph Pergola can be reached at joseph.pergola@student.shu.edu.
