The Seton Hall Pirates couldn’t complete the comeback against the Princeton Tigers, who handed them their first loss of the season, 78-75, on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Walsh Gymnasium.
Seton Hall came into the game with a 4-0 record after a thrilling victory against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Nov. 18. Meanwhile, Princeton was coming off a loss to the Quinnipiac Bobcats and held a 2-2 record on the year. Notably, Princeton’s leading scorer on the season, Madison St. Rose, was absent from the game.
The game was back and forth early, with both teams having good opportunities to get shots off. Seton Hall went 8-for-12 from the field in the first quarter, highlighted by two 3-pointers: one by freshman Jada Eads to tie the game at 11 and one from sophomore Savannah Catalon to go ahead, 18-15. However, four turnovers by the Pirates, including two travels, gave Princeton the opportunity to keep it close; a buzzer-beating layup by freshman Toby Nweke kept the game within a point.
Things began to unravel for the Pirates in the second quarter as they scored just 11 points compared to their 20 in the first. Meanwhile, Princeton went on a scoring spree with five 3-pointers in the quarter. Two of those came from the game’s leading scorer, Skye Belker, who finished with 21 points, tying her season high. Belker was getting open looks all night, finishing 4-for-5 from downtown while also collecting six assists.
Princeton opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Ashley Chea, and claimed their biggest lead of the night at 56-40. The Pirates rallied with a 14-2 run late in the quarter, fueled by graduate student Yaya Lops. Lops scored two clutch 3-pointers, and Big East Weekly Honor Roll player Faith Masonius added two tough buckets in the paint. Lops led Seton Hall with a season-high 20 points, shooting 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, and tallied six rebounds. Masonius scored 15 points to go along with three steals, bouncing back after a slow first half with just two points.
Seton Hall was able to cut into the 16-point deficit and made it a three-point game in the fourth quarter, but after two corner 3-pointers by Princeton’s Christina Parella off the bench, the Pirates weren’t able to finish the comeback this time.
Seton Hall’s defense, which had held opponents to just under 48 points per game this season, couldn’t contain Princeton’s high-powered offense. The Tigers finished with 78 points, going 61.2% from the field compared to The Hall at 47.5%. With clutch performances by Parella off the bench and a dominant showing from Belker, the Pirates couldn’t catch up and lost their third consecutive matchup against Princeton.
The Pirates are now 4-2 on the season, ranking fifth in the Big East. Their next game is against the San Francisco on Monday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m.
Victor Johnson is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at victor.johnson@student.shu.edu.
