Following a three-game road trip, the Seton Hall women’s basketball team hosted the Providence Friars on Saturday afternoon.
Both Providence and the Hall started off strong with initial offensive dominance and active rebounding on both ends. Lauren Park-Lane started the scoring with an open triple, though Providence retaliated in what was a mostly even first quarter; four ties and four lead changes defined the opening ten minutes.
Park-Lane tied the game at 17 to begin the second quarter following a steal from Shailyn Pinkney. A foul on the play sent her to the charity stripe where the Pirates retook the lead. An 8-0 burst sparked by a Sidney Cooks layup gave the Hall their largest lead of the game and, despite retaliation from the Friars, put them ahead into the break, 36-32.
Seton Hall was led by Cooks’s 11 points in the first half followed by Park-Lane’s nine points on the strength of two makes from behind-the-arc. Azana Baines also added eight points in the first half.
The Pirates opened the second half with a 7-0 run that included another three-pointer from Park-Lane. She would tack on another triple on the following play to give the Hall a 12-point advantage with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter.
Cooks would close the frame with six straight points, which further extended Seton Hall’s lead to 20 and put her game total at 25 points with ten minutes still left to play.
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw a quick outburst by Olivia Olsen, who had been rising up the Friars’ ranks to the point that she seemed to be the sole offense agent of a team visibly worn out. At this point, it was up to Baines, Cooks and Park-Lane to seal what would become a 77-52 victory.
An all-around effort on the stat sheet sealed the win for Seton Hall. Three Pirates scored in double figures, led by 29 points from Cooks on an efficient 12-of-20 from the field. Park-Lane added 21 points on the strength of 6-of-12 from behind-the-arc to go with eight assists. Baines scored 17 points and missed just one shot while pulling down five rebounds. Mya Bembry finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.
Seton Hall improves to 8-5 in conference play and 15-8 overall. The Pirates’ next matchup will be another Big East game against the Creighton Bluejays on Feb. 20 at Walsh Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
Christopher Benítez Cuartas can be found at christopher.bentezcuartas@student.shu.edu.
