Following their 57-40 win over the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the first round of the WBIT on March 20, the Seton Hall women’s basketball team hosted Portland on Sunday, March 23, for the second round. Unfortunately, they lost to the Pilots in an intense 61-55 battle after Portland rallied in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore guard Savannah Catalon led the Pirates with a game-high 18 points against the Bobcats, while All-Freshman first-team guard Jada Eads recorded her first double-double of the season. Graduate guard Amari Wright also made history, becoming Seton Hall’s all-time leader in career games played with 141 (now 142).
The Portland Pilots came off a 69-68 overtime win over the second-seeded Stanford Cardinals in the first round of the WBIT on March 20 as well. Graduate guard Emme Shearer matched her career-high with 28 points, including the game-deciding free throw in overtime to give Portland the win. Shearer averaged 16.7 points per game this season, just barely behind fellow graduate guard Maisie Burnham, who averaged 16.8 herself, which is third in the West Coast Conference (WCC).
Like Seton Hall, Portland also missed out on the NCAA tournament despite winning 29 games and a share of the WCC regular season title. As a result, this marks the team’s first appearance in the WBIT.
If their last game wasn’t intense enough, this one was even more so. The Pirates came out strong, scoring four of their first five shots to take an early 8-4 lead in the first quarter. Graduate forward Yaya Lops hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Pirates' early lead to seven, as they led 14-7. Seton Hall scored with the last possession of the first quarter, as Eads hit one of two free throws to make it 19-15 going into the second.
Following a transition layup from Burnham, the Pilots managed to tie the game 19-19 to start the second quarter. They then took their first lead of the game after a wing 3-pointer from graduate forward Alexis Mark put them ahead 22-19. Burnham hit a 3-pointer for the Pilots, tying the game at 25 with five minutes to go. With a minute remaining, Catalan hit a 3-pointer to give the Pirates a five-point lead going into halftime.
Lops led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, while Masonius followed with six points. Eads and Catalon each had five points and one assist. For the Pilots, Shearer led with six points, followed by Burnham with five, and Hull and sophomore guard Rhyan Mogel each had four. Seton Hall shot 31.3% (5-16) in the second, a decrease from their 53% shooting in the first. In contrast, the Pilots improved from their 31.3% first quarter by shooting 44.4% (4-9).
Early in the third quarter, Shearer picked up her third foul as Eads hit two free throws to extend Seton Hall’s lead to seven. Minutes later, the Pilots went on a 7-0 run, tying the game at 30 apiece following a transition layup by Portland senior center Trista Hull. Before a media timeout, Eads scored a layup to end Seton Hall’s scoring drought, putting the Pirates ahead 32-30 with four minutes left in the quarter. Shortly after, Catalan became the second player in the game to reach double figures after splitting a screen and hitting a mid-range shot. In their next possession, she scored an off-the-dribble 3-pointer to give Seton Hall a five-point lead. However, Portland responded in the last possession of the quarter, as Mark converted an and-one to make it a three-point game.
Seton Hall led 43-40 as both teams shot 35.7% (5-15) by the end of the third quarter. The teams were evenly matched, and it was clear that the final quarter of the game would decide who would advance to the next round of the tournament.
Early in the fourth quarter, graduate forward Kaydan Lawson scored a wing 3-pointer to give the Pirates their biggest lead of the game at 48-40. But the Pilots didn’t let up: Hull hit her second 3-pointer of the game to cut the deficit back to five with eight minutes remaining. Minutes later, a steal and one-on-one by graduate guard McKelle Meek brought the game within two, prompting a Seton Hall timeout. After the free-throw, Seton Hall led 54-52 with just four minutes left.
The turning point of the game came late in the fourth quarter after a questionable call by the officials. With the Pilots now trailing by just one, 55-54, the officials reviewed the play. Following the review, Shearer scored a layup as Portland took a 56-55 lead with two minutes remaining in the game, prompting a Seton Hall timeout. After the timeout, Masonius picked up her fifth foul of the game trying to follow a mid-range shot by Catalon, as she was disqualified from the game. Another questionable foul call on Seton Hall sent Shearer to the free-throw line for three shots. She made two of them, extending the Pilots’ lead to three as they led 58-55 with a minute left in the game.
Unable to score in their last few possessions, Seton Hall ultimately fell to the Portland Pilots, 61-55. The Pilots went on a 15-1 run in the final five minutes, including a 7-0 run in the last four, to steal this game from the Pirates, who led for most of the game. Seton Hall also committed four turnovers in the last five minutes as their season came to an end.
While recording her second double-double of the season, Eads led all scorers with 18 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds. The Pilots were led by Shearer, who finished just shy of her scoring average with 15 points. Both teams had three players in double figures: Catalon, Eads, and Lops for Seton Hall, and Hull, Mark, and Shearer for Portland.
After the game, head coach Anthony Bozzella expressed how upset he was that the season had ended with the loss: “I love this group, and that’s why I’m probably more sad than ever, because I really love these kids,” he said. “I’m sad not because we lost; I’m sad because I’m not going to have a practice with them, have a team meal with them [or] just see them.”
He added that the team was “the most enjoyable group” he’s coached during his 12-year career of coaching college basketball, and “it’s not going to be the same next year.”
Anticipating next season, he also voiced his frustration with the transfer portal and the current state of college sports, where players often switch programs after just one season.
“It’s not fun,” Bozzella said. “It’s not what it’s about. It’s impossible to deal with. I’m afraid to open my phone to see what [it says]—It’s really, really hard, and I hate how these writers and announcers that don’t go through what [coaches] go through, say, ‘Oh, you can leave tomorrow.’ Well, I can’t leave tomorrow, I have a contract. I can’t do that. Secondly, it’s not that easy. Here, [players] just put their name, and they’re gone.”
“[Players] should have their rights,” he added. “But at some point, I have to be able to build [the program] forward, and it’s really hard this way.”
Despite his frustration with the current state of college sports, Bozzella also expressed his gratitude for how the transfer portal has benefitted the program this season: “We’re lucky,” he said. “Look at [the] great transfers we brought in. Look how well everybody played. I don’t know if that's going to happen next year…so it’s hard.”
Reflecting on the season, Bozzella mentioned the team’s chemistry and respect, saying the team “got along extremely well,” And “they are unbelievably polite and respectful young women.”
“This group was respectful,” he said. “We had 98 practices, and I never walked out and said, ‘This kid’s a jerk.’ They were respectful and polite, and enjoyable young ladies to be around.”
“They cared about me, and they cared about the staff,” he added. “And that doesn’t happen all the time.”
Oddly, Bozzella’s favorite moment of the season didn’t come during a game, but in practice: “I think [it] was a day in practice where I was just standing there and someone came up to me and gave me a hug,” he said. “And it was Jada [Eads].”
He also reflected on the support he received after the death of his mother earlier in the season: “I think when my mom died, the [outpouring] of love and support from the team was amazing,” he said. “I didn’t coach the first game of the year. I was sick in the hospital, but [the team] was great.”
“I think those are the moments I remember the most,” he said. “The wins were great, and they were fun, but it’s really those other things that I will remember the most.”
Seton Hall’s women’s basketball team finished the season with an overall record of 23-10 and a conference record of 13-5. They were the third-best team in the Big East and competed against some of the best teams in women’s college basketball. Although their season’s now over, the women’s basketball team had a campaign to be proud of.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
