Following a tough road loss against the Creighton Blue Jays, the women’s basketball team hosted Xavier this Saturday, Feb. 8 at Walsh Gymnasium. This marked the first meeting of the season between Seton Hall and Xavier, with the Pirates looking to earn their 17th win, while the Musketeers hoped to end their six-game losing streak. Last season, Seton Hall swept the season series against Xavier with double-digit leads in all three games.
After a slow start for the Pirates in the opening minutes of the game, the two-minute scoring drought was broken by a floater from senior guard Amari Wright. The Musketeers were in foul trouble early on in the game, taking the penalty with five minutes still left in the first quarter. The Pirates would capitalize on this by drawing shooting fouls, as free throws accounted for six of the Pirates’ eight first quarter points.
With five minutes left in the first, two free throws from freshman guard Jada Eads gave the Pirates a five-point lead. Xavier sophomore guard Mari Kanerva found her rhythm with a fast break layup and two more off the glass to cut the Pirate lead to one.
The Pirates then responded with a seven-point scoring run thanks to steady offense from senior forward Faith Masonius and sophomore guard Savannah Catalon. Xavier’s Loren Christie ended their run, as the senior forward scored two in the post and one at the line. With Christie’s free throw, the quarter ended 17-10 in favor of The Hall.
The Musketeers opened the second quarter with a five-point run behind scoring from sophomore guard Aizhanique Mayo and Christie. The Hall responded from long range, with Eads hitting a 3-pointer. For Xavier, Christie continued to dominate in the paint, with four consecutive points over the Pirates. The Hall followed this with a run of their own, with five points coming from Iyanna Lops and Masonius. The Musketeers soon responded from beyond with a pair of threes from sophomore guard Julia Garcia-Roig and Mayo. Following a steal from Catalon, Wright ignited Walsh Gymnasium with a long two at the buzzer, putting Seton Hall up, 31-25, going into halftime.
Masonius led scoring for the Pirates with eight points in the first half, which was followed closely by Eads with seven. Sharing the lead scorer spot for Xavier was Christie and Mayo both with nine apiece. Staying true to their name, the Musketeers shot 50% from deep, but still could not take the lead from the Pirates in the first half. Also notable was Seton Hall’s accuracy from the free throw line, recording 80% success from the stripe.
Striking first in the second half was Mayo from deep, with Xavier closing in on Seton Hall’s lead. The Pirates responded with a coast-to-coast layup from Eads followed by a layup from Lops to extend their lead to seven. The Pirates and the Musketeers then traded buckets from midrange, as the lead remained the same. Catalon was a pickpocket, plundering three possessions for the Musketeers early in the quarter, with one leading to a transition bucket that brought the Pirates just shy of a double-digit lead.
The Pirates offense exploded following a 3-pointer from graduate forward Ramani Parker, which kicked off a 9-1 run for them. Thanks to rampant steals and transition points for the Pirates, the Hall took a 15-point lead with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter. The Musketeers ended their scoring drought with a 3-pointer from graduate guard Tae’lor Purvis, bringing the lead to 12. Just before the end of the third, sophomore forward Bland-Fitzpatrick connected from deep to put the Pirates up 50-36 going into the fourth quarter.
At the end of the quarter, Catalan made history by recording her eleventh steal of the game, breaking Seton Hall’s single-game record of ten that stood for over 30 years. Catalon managed to break the record in three-quarters of play, including seven steals in the third quarter alone.
Kaydan Lawson scored a layup for the Pirates at the beginning of the fourth, but Xavier quickly responded with two of their own from Kanerva. Catalon continued her hot streak with two consecutive jumpers and a perfect trip to the free throw line, extending the Pirates’ lead to 18. With scoring efforts from Masonius and junior forward Messiah Hunter, The Hall then went on a 14-4 scoring streak and led 64-40 with four minutes remaining in the game.
Although Xavier showed signs of life at the end of the game following a free throw from Kanerva and a 3-pointer from Irune Orio, it was not enough, as Catalon scored her 17th point following another perfect trip to the foul line to put the game away. Sophomore forward Savanna Jones finished off the game for Seton Hall with a layup to make the final score 72-47.
With the win over Xavier, Seton Hall improves to 17-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play. The lead scorers for The Hall were Catalon with a 17-point double-double, including 11 steals, and Masonius with 16 points and four rebounds. Still sharing the lead scorer spot for the Musketeers were Mayo and Christie with 12 points apiece.
The Pirates' next game is on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m., as they host the Marquette Golden Eagles in Walsh Gymnasium. Following Marquette, Seton Hall travels to Rhode Island to face the Providence Friars on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall.
Christian Hui is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at christian.hui@student.shu.edu.
