The women's basketball team earned its fifth conference win on Saturday night by defeating the St. John's Red Storm, 60-51, at Walsh Gymnasium. The five Big East wins is the most conference victories in a season since the team won nine in 2006-07.
"It feels great," Donovan said. "I'm so happy for the girls. We beat Rutgers and to beat St. John's, the two schools we recruit against-we've lost recruits to both schools-it's a really good feeling."
On the Pirates' Senior Night, the team received a great effort from senior guard Brittany Morris.
Morris poured in a career-high 28 points, on 10-22 shooting.
Morris echoed her coach's statement about winning on senior night, the first win on a senior night in her career at Seton Hall.
"It feels great," Morris said. "Since I've been here, we haven't won on a senior night. It's just an excitement right now."
With 7:38 remaining in the second half, trailing 43-40, Morris nailed a 3-point shot from the elbow to tie the game.
After a missed jumper by Rutgers, junior Janee Johnson hit a turnaround jumper from the paint to put the Pirates in the lead.
Two free throws by Shenneika Smith tied the game at 45, but on the ensuing Seton Hall possession, Johnson struck again with a wide open layup to take a 47-45 lead.
On the next Pirates possession, Morris struck again with a 3-point dagger in transition. The Red Storm would not cut the lead to less than five for the remainder of the game.
That 3-pointer also tied Morris for the most 3-pointers hit in a single season in program history. Morris broke the record for career 3-pointers on Feb. 16 against USF.
"Offensively, (Morris) knows we rely on her," Donovan said. "She's had an attack mentality. You can see it in transition; she's showing up in transition, not waiting for a set to get her (3-pointer). That's been the biggest difference in the game."
Senior Breanna Jones also made a difference doing the dirty work for the Pirates in the last four minutes, grabbing two key offensive rebounds. Jones drew fouls after both put-back attempts, sealing the game.
Donovan said that the Pirates were able to take advantage of a seemingly relaxed Red Storm team.
"We talked about how lackluster St. Johns looked," Donovan said. "It looked like they were out here for a scrimmage."
After the win, the Pirates will head to the Big East Championship on Friday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
The opponent is not known for sure, but Donovan said she likes the Pirates' chances in the contest.
Morris said that the win on Saturday shows that the team can win a game in the tournament.
"We keep playing no matter what," Morris said. "If you play through it, things like this happen. You beat a team that's in the top of the conference."
T.J. Brennan can be reached at Thomas.brennan@student.shu.edu. He can be found on Twitter @BrennansBite.
