RV/#25 WBB Hosts Showdown with St. John's Sunday
1/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RV/#25 SETON HALL (19-2, 8-1) vs. NR/RV ST. JOHN'S (15-5, 6-3)
South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) • Sunday, Feb. 1 • 2:00 PM
Broadcast: Pirate Sports Network (Play-by-play: Jon Schaeffer; Color: David Gass)
Radio: WSOU 89.5 FM (Play-by-play: George Balekji; Color: Corey Thomas)
Seton Hall Game Notes 
| STJ Game Notes | Live Video |
The second half of the BIG EAST season gets underway this Sunday afternoon for the RV/#25 Seton Hall University women's basketball team as the Pirates host the St. John's Red Storm in Walsh Gym at 2 p.m.
A near capacity crowd is expected to be on hand as Seton Hall looks to avenge its one loss from the first half of conference play. Through nine games, the Pirates continue to lead the pack, sitting atop the BIG EAST standings with an 8-1 record, that lone setback coming at St. John's, 59-50, on Jan. 2.
Since then, Seton Hall has rattled off six-straight wins and at 19-2 overall, the Pirates have a chance to tie the program mark for the fastest to reach 20 wins; the 1980-81 squad opened the year at 20-2 and finished 25-5 overall.
St. John's has won five-straight in the series, with Seton Hall's last win coming in the 2012-13 regular season finale in South Orange, 60-51.
In the first meeting of the season, St. John's started strong, leading by as many as 12 points in the first half, only to see the Pirates respond with an 11-4 run to end the period and eventually take a 48-43 lead midway through the second half.
However, St. John's locked down defensively and held the Pirates without a field goal over the final 9:30, closing out the game with a 16-2 spurt.
So what will Seton Hall have to do in order to gain the upper hand in what figures to be a closely contested rematch? Focusing on rebounding and perimeter shooting will be a good start. St. John's grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, which led to 12 second-chance points in the win last month, while Seton Hall shot just 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from 3-point range.
The Pirates will also need to see better distribution of the basketball. Seton Hall recorded a season-low five assists in that game on 18 made field goals, well below the season average of 12.5 assists per game.
For St. John's, no player outside of the starting lineup averaging more than 1.5 points per game, but the Red Storm do feature a pair of the league's top scorers in Aliyyah Handford (20.4 ppg) and Danaejah Grant (17.9 ppg.). Amber Thompson averages just 6.2 ppg, but had 12 points and 20 rebounds in the first meeting of the year.
During the game in January, the pace came closer to mirroring the way the Red Storm want to play, with both teams finishing in the 50's, while SHU is averaging 76.0 ppg. On its home floor, the Pirates are likely to push the tempo and try to score more in transition. St. John's has only topped 70 points four times all year and is averaging 63.4 ppg, which ranks eighth in the BIG EAST.
SETON HALL STATUS
- Seton Hall continues to lead the BIG EAST conference, and has won six games in a row since the setback at St. John's in early January. The Pirates are 13-0 at home this year and have won 18-straight in Walsh dating back to last season, the second-longest home winning streak in team history.
- Daisha Simmons was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after leading SHU in scoring in a pair of road wins last week, including a 32-point performance in the 99-85 overtime win over Georgetown. Tabatha Richardson-Smith continues to lead the team in scoring at 18.1 ppg.
- A win over St. John's on Sunday would match the best record Seton Hall has had through 22 games in program history (20-2).
ST. JOHN'S STATUS
- St. John's sits at 15-5 overall and 6-3 in the BIG EAST, but the Red Storm are 3-3 in their last six conference games and 3-4 overall in their last seven.
- Last weekend, St. John's won at Georgetown but was unable to make it a weekend sweep, dropping an 81-69 contest at Villanova on Sunday. The Red Storm shot 54.4 percent against Villanova, but the Wildcats hit 9-of-18 3-point attempts and shot a blistering 60.7 percent from the floor.
- Aliyyah Handford (20.4 ppg) and Danaejah Grant (18.9 ppg) are the only players averaging double figures for St. John's.
LAST TIME VS. ST. JOHN'S
- Seton Hall lost at St. John's, 59-50, when these two teams met earlier this season. The Pirates have won six-straight since that game in early January.
- Seton Hall led 48-43 in the second half, but St. John's ended the game on a 16-2 run to come away with the win, holding the Pirates without a field goal over the final 9:30.
- The Pirates shot just 29.0 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from 3-point range. The 50 points scored also represents a season-low for The Hall.
- Tabatha Richardson-Smith led Seton Hall with 16 points, and Amber Thompson finished with 12 points and 20 rebounds for SJU.
SETTING SCORING MARKS
- After scoring 99 points in its overtime win at Georgetown on Jan. 25, Seton Hall managed to post two of its top-four single-game scoring efforts in program history in just a matter of eight days.
- The Pirates beat DePaul 107-87 on Jan. 18, topping 100 points for just the third time in program history and the first since 1987.
- A week later, it took overtime, but the 99 points scored in that win over the Hoyas represent the fourth-highest single-game effort the Pirates have ever had.
CLOSING IN ON TEAM SCORING MARK
- Seton Hall is currently averaging 76.0 points per game, which if the season ended today would be the highest single-season scoring average in program history.
- The record, set during the 1993-94 season, is 73.2 ppg, when the Pirates tallied 2,342 points in 32 games.
- Should Seton Hall maintain its scoring average over the rest of the season, the Pirates would finish with 2,356 points, which would also be a school record.
- Last season, the first under head coach Anthony Bozzella, Seton Hall averaged 71.1 ppg, the third highest in school history and the most since that record setting season of 1993-94.
PUTTING IN EXTRA WORK
- Seton Hall prevailed at Georgetown, 99-85, in overtime on Jan. 25, which was Seton Hall's first overtime game of the season.
- The Pirates played a pair of overtime contests last year, beating Marquette at home and falling at Rutgers in double overtime in the third round of the WNIT.
- Head coach Anthony Bozzella is 2-1 in overtime contests over his two-plus seasons at Seton Hall.
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER BEST-START MARK
- At 19-2, Seton Hall has posted its best record through 21 games since the 1980-81 season.
- That year, Seton Hall finished with 25-5 overall record, but the Pirates opened the season at 20-2, the best record through 22 games in program history.
- The Pirates have a chance to tie that mark when they host St. John's on Sunday afternoon.
