After losing to No. 2 University of Connecticut on Wednesday night and falling to 4th place in the Big East, Seton Hall’s losing streak continued with Saturday's loss to Creighton.
The Pirates couldn’t get it done at home and lost to Creighton in overtime by one point. Just as they did in their loss to UConn, Seton Hall held the lead over the Bluejays until a fourth quarter defensive collapse led to them giving up the lead and eventually the game.
Andra Epinoza-Hunter got the Pirates rolling in the first quarter with the team's first basket of the game. A three-point basket by the Bluejays put them ahead 9-7 with at the under-seven mark. After that, Seton Hall never looked back. A pair of three-pointers from Mya Bembry and Mya Jackson helped the pirates finish the quarter with a 17-11 lead.
The second quarter started off with a Seton Hall turnover allowing the Bluejays to shoot first. However, Jackson made a layup at the under-eight mark. That play alone increased the pirates lead to 21, forcing Creighton to call a timeout.
Although the bluejays tried to knock on the Pirates' door with a layup by Gracey Griglione with under a minute remaining, Seton Hall were able to hold onto their lead by a series of back to back buckets by Desiree Elmore. They went into the half 33-25.
The Pirates came out of the half time break full of steam, putting daylight between themselves and the Bluejays at 43-29, their largets lead of the game. Creighton slowly fought back, though, and reduced Seton Hall's lead to just six points at the under-three mark.. After leading by as many as 14, a three-point basket by Creighton’s Morgan Maly cut her teams deficit to three and the Hall ended the third quarter with a 52-49 lead.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Pirates and Bluejays were all tied 52-52 after a Creighton free throw at the under-nine mark. It seemed as though the Bluejays found their niche as they took a four-point lead over the Pirates.
Lauren Park-Lane and Amari Wright both had consecutive three pointers to put the Hall back on top by three with under five minutes to play. Creighton’s three pointer by Tatum Rembao tied the game at 64 with one minute left, and it was tied once again at 66 to end the fourth quarter.
Overtime opened up with Creighton punching a basket in first. A turnover by Espinoza- Hunter allowed the Bluejays to capitalize once again, but she redeemed herself with a jumper that tied the game at 68 with just about four minutes remaining.
A layup by Park-Lane gave the pirates a one point lead with 18 seconds left, but they couldn’t hold on. The game ended with a score of 77-76. Head coach Anthony Bozzella noted that the team's decline on either side of the ball towards the end of the game played a part in their loss.
“I thought the defense collapsed in the second half, and the offense was a little stagnant,” Bozzella said.
Elmore lead the pirates today with 25 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Behind her was Park-Lane with 19, and finally Jackson with 15.
Both teams will be back in action on Monday, Feb. 15. Creighton will face Georgetown, and Seton Hall will be headed to Wintrust Arena to take on DePaul.
The Blue Demons will have had a lot of time to rest before they get ready for the pirates and Bozzella made it very clear that in order to come away with a win, the defense needs to step up.
“We need to play a lot better defense and communicate better on defense,” Bozzella said.
Ashley Howard can be reached at ashley.howard@student.shu.edu.
