As the postseason got underway for the Pirates on Saturday afternoon with the beginning of the Big East tournament, the women’s basketball team was unable to lengthen its tenure, as Seton Hall was defeated by St. John’s, 76-51.
Coming into the game as the eighth seed, the Pirates faced the ninth seeded Red Storm after coming away with victories in its two regular season contests against them. The first half showed that, despite the sweep,, a third meeting was going to be close.
Although Seton Hall was only down by four, a first quarter of shooting percentage of 29 percent from the field plagued the Pirates in an effort to take the lead. Unfortunately for Seton Hall, St. John’s did not face the same shooting woes and shot 50 percent in the second quarter.
The inability to make shots on a consistent basis bled into the next half for the Pirates, as they made only 36 percent of their shots in the third quarter and 30 percent in the fourth quarter. In the half, Seton Hall was only able to come away with one three- point basket.
Overall, St. John’s was able to get by the Pirates from shooting with a hot hand and forcing turnovers. The Johnnies shot 52.8 percent for the entire game and began to put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Pirates 21-9 on 75 percent shooting. St. John’s also created 16 turnovers to aid its offensive effort to defeat Seton Hall by 25.
Notable performances for the Pirates came from the trio of who finished with points in double figures. Selena Philoxy ended the game with 14 points and six rebounds. Inja Butina played 38 minutes to go along with her 11 points, three assists and three rebounds. All-Big East first team member and the conference’s most improved player, Shadeen Samuels, could only account for 11 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Pirates will wait to hear which tournament that they will participate in as their record for the year finishes at 15-15.
Robert Fallo can be reached at robert.fallo@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @robert_fallo.
