Still seeking their first Big East win of the season, the Seton Hall women's basketball team faces the St. John's Red Storm to Walsh Gymnasium on Saturday for its second Super Bowl weekend matchup in the last three years.
The Pirates, 7-16 overall and 0-9 in the Big East, are coming off a 62-53 setback at Villanova on Tuesday night.
Over the past few years the Pirates have struggled against the Red Storm. In the two teams' last meeting, St. John's defeated the Hall 58-48 in Walsh Gymanisum.
The loss last season extended the Hall's winless streak against the Red Storm to eight straight games and 10 of the last 11, with four of those losses coming in Walsh Gymaniusm.
St. John's comes in at 14-8 overall and a 6-3 start in Big East play, having received votes for the Associated Press Top 25 rankings this past week while winning on the road Tuesday night against Pittsburgh.
With the Pittsburgh win, the Red Storm have won seven of their last nine games with eight of those games played in the Big East.
St. John's was picked to finish No. 7 in the Big East Preseason Poll, with both Da'Shena Stevens and Shenneika Smith named to the Preseason All-Big East First Team.
Stevens missed time earlier this year with injuries, while Smith is averaging 12.6 points per game, which is second on the team. Smith also leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per contest.
Despite the team's struggles in Big East play so far, the Pirates feel that they are close to grabbing their first conference win, according to head coach Anne Donovan.
Junior forward Terry Green echoes her coach's comments.
"I think that compared to last year we are playing a lot better together," Green said. "We believe that if we hold each other accountable and do certain things that we need to win. But I do believe we are getting closer and closer."
As a team the Hall is shooting 37.1 percent on the season while averaging 56.7 points a game. Crew is leading the team with 18.2 points per game, with junior Brittany Morris second on the team with 12.2 points a game.
Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Walsh Gym.
Following the game against St. John's, the women's team heads on the road to face Georgetown on Feb. 8.
Jason Guerette can be reached at jason.guerette@student.shu.edu
