On the heels of a road loss to Butler on Sunday afternoon, the Seton Hall women's basketball team earned their first road conference win, 62-51, over the Xavier Musketeers in Cincinnati, Ohio. The win improves the Pirates conference record to 2-4, and their overall record to 10-7.
The Pirates have come and gone with the senior trio of Donnaizha Fountain and JaQuan Jackson, and the two had 17 and 10 points, respectively, while Taylor Brown also had 10 points in the win.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Despite getting on the board first and holding the lead for over 35 of the 40 minutes, Seton Hall had a hard time expanding its lead. The Pirates could not cover Xavier behind the three-point arc, and the Musketeers made them pay by making their first three attempts and shooting 57.1 percent from there in the first quarter. Still, the Pirates came out of the first quarter leading, 19-14.
The second quarter proved to be pivotal for the Pirates. The team played aggressively and dominated the Musketeers, overcoming their struggle to guard Xavier from three, forcing turnovers and seizing rebound opportunities.
Fountain and Jackson combined for 15 of Seton Hall’s 33 points at the half, as Seton Hall took a narrow three-point advantage into the break.
Xavier was able to come close to retaking the lead in the third quarter, tying the score at 40-40 after a lay-up by Aly Reiff. The Pirates defense proved strong in a critical moment, though, and and created offense from their defense to retake the lead. Seton Hall led by five at the end of the third quarter, and stretched the lead to seven right out of the stoppage with a Kimi Evans lay-in.
The fourth quarter continued the tough fight between the two conference foes, as Xavier once again narrowed the lead down – this time to four with 7:18 to play. But that would be as close as Xavier got, as the Musketeers coughed the ball up seven times from then on, and Seton Hall closed the game on an 11-4 run.
Throughout the night, Seton Hall exploited Xavier’s weak ball-security, stealing the ball 16 times throughout the game and scoring 22 points off those turnovers.
The Pirates will return home and be back in action against Villanova on Jan. 12, at 7 p.m., in Walsh Gymnasium.
Brittany Tomore can be reached at Brittany.tomore@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @BrittTomore.
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