The Seton Hall Pirates were left chasing their tails after UConn recovered from a slow start to the first half, with the Huskies winning the game, 91-49, on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Walsh Gymnasium.
Despite a game-high 26 points from freshman guard Jada Eads, the Pirates lost to the Marquette Golden Eagles in their last game, 68-61 on Wednesday, Feb. 12. With the loss, Marquette and Seton Hall are in a close contest for third place in the Big East standings, with Villanova not far behind.
In their last matchup against the Huskies on Sunday, Jan. 29, the Pirates traveled to Storrs, Connecticut, and were met with an electric crowd of UConn fans at Gampel Pavilion. That game ended with a 96-36 win for UConn, in addition to Paige Bueckers’ 2,000th career point, and the long-awaited return of senior forward Aubrey Griffin back from injury.
Wednesday’s game was all the buzz on Seton Hall’s campus, with many saying that student tickets sold out in under 10 minutes. This can be attributed to several factors, including the immense popularity of Huskies senior guard Paige Bueckers, who is one of the biggest stars in women's college basketball and a future No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She currently ranks third in the Big East in scoring with 18.4 points per game and has just over two million followers on Instagram. In addition, the game also follows UConn’s recent blowout 87-58 win over the reigning national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, on Sunday, Feb. 16, which shocked the basketball world at large.
The Pirates started the first quarter with a jumper from freshman guard Jada Eads followed by a 3-pointer from senior forward Yaya Lops. After being tied, 10-10, midway through the quarter, the Huskies went on a 12-0 run, taking the lead, 22-10. But the Pirates managed to reclaim some of those lost points by the end of the quarter with two more shots from Eads and Lops, cutting the Huskies’ lead to 22-15.
Seton Hall opened the second quarter with more buckets from Lops and sophomore guard Savannah Catalon, cutting the deficit to 22-20. By the end of the first half, UConn had committed eight turnovers but still finished with a 41-26 lead.
The excitement that had taken over Seton Hall’s campus earlier in the day started to dissipate when the Huskies gained momentum in the third quarter. Five minutes in, UConn went on another huge scoring run, this time going 11-0. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Pirates struggled to defend fast breaks from Huskies like Ashlynn Shade, Bueckers, and graduate guard Azzi Fudd, who had 28 points in the Huskies' huge win over South Carolina, scoring 18 points in the third quarter alone.
The 42-point lead at the end of the game was the Huskies' largest of the night and the second-highest of the season behind their 60-point lead against the Pirates earlier in the season (96-36).
UConn outscored Seton Hall, 50-23 in the second half, with the Huskies shooting 63% from the field (33-52) compared to the Pirates’ 37% (19-52). The Huskies also scored 32 points off of 19 Pirate turnovers, something that is atypical for Seton Hall this season (they usually average 13.8 turnovers per game).
Bueckers ended this game like she did the last one against the Pirates, breaking another record as she passed all-time WNBA points leader Diana Taurasi for the ninth most points scored in UConn women's basketball history. Buekcers also nearly had a double-double, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. In her first game back from injury, Aubrey Griffin, along with graduate guard Kaitlyn Chen, each scored 15 points, combining for 30 of the Huskies’ 91-point night.
For the Pirates, Yaya Lops scored 15 points while senior forward Faith Masonius and Jada Eads each added 12. After the game, Pirates head coach Anthony Bozzella said that his team’s biggest strengths are toughness and Masonius, who he calls a “tremendous ambassador to the program.”
“What I see is we have a resilient team, led by Faith,” he said. “We’ll play a better game on Sunday.”
The Pirates are now 19-8 overall and 11-5 in conference play after beating St. John’s on Sunday, Feb. 23. The Pirates will face DePaul on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Walsh Gymnasium.
Jacqueline Litowinsky is the head editor for The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at jacqueline.litowinsky@student.shu.edu.
