The Seton Hall Pirates defeat the Bryant Bulldogs, 55-39, giving them their first loss of the season. The game was contested this past Saturday, Nov. 16, inside Walsh Gymnasium.
Both teams came into this matchup undefeated, with the Bulldogs having their best start in the program's history since moving up to Division I in 2007. The Pirates were coming off a dominant performance against Fordham on Tuesday, winning by 67-44.
The Hall put the defensive pressure on early, forcing six Bulldog turnovers in the first quarter. On the other end, Seton Hall committed four turnovers, two of which came from reigning Big East player of the week Faith Masonius. Both teams shot poorly from the field, with Bryant shooting 14%, and Seton Hall shooting 28%.
Both offenses started to pick up some steam in the second quarter. Bryant’s Silvia Gonzalez nailed a couple of 3-pointers to put the Dogs within three. She and junior Breezie Williams led the Bulldogs with six points each for the half. For the Hall, Masonius continued to add to the 12 points she scored throughout the first half, to go with three rebounds and a steal, as the Pirates took a 23-19 lead into halftime.
Seton Hall started heading to the free throw line a lot more often throughout the third quarter, making six of their seven attempts after only shooting two from the charity stripe throughout the first half. Both teams put up their highest quarter-point totals of the game, as the Hall took a five-point lead heading into the fourth.
Masonius led both teams with a game-high 22 points, along with six rebounds and four assists. Pirate freshmen Ja’kahla Kraft and Jada Eads got their first collegiate minutes, and also the first collegiate points of their young careers. For the Bulldogs, Williams was the only double-figure scorer with 10 of her own, followed by Gonzalez, who didn’t score outside of her two threes in the second quarter.
Neither team shot particularly well. Bryant shot 25% from the field, while the Hall only shot 35%. The Pirates also shot just 19% from 3-point range. What hurt the Bulldogs most was the turnover game, as Bryant turned the ball over 21 times: the third time they’ve notched 20+ turnovers in a game this season.
The Pirates are currently 4-1 and are ranked fourth in the Big East. Their next game is against the USC Trojans on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m.
John Misiewicz writes for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at john.misiewicz@student.shu.edu.
