Pirates Drop Hard-Fought Battle To Princeton

Thursday, November 16

South Orange, N.J.

7 p.m.

Seton Hall University

2-1

Princeton

2-0

Princeton

Seton Hall

11/16/2017 10:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF BOX

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women's basketball team (2-1) dropped an absolute battle to the Princeton Tigers (2-0) by a score of 85-83 at Walsh Gymnasium on Thursday night. The setback was The Hall's first of the season and came despite 21 points from Donnaizha Fountain (Roxbury, Mass.) and a double-double from Taylor Brown (Paterson, N.J.).

In a game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, The Hall led throughout the first half and took a five-point advantage to the break. The Tigers used a strong third period to take a one-point lead, sending the contest to the fourth quarter with Princeton up 59-58.

Turning Point
Entering the fourth quarter 1-for-7 from 3-point range, the Tigers found their stroke to open the final frame. Bella Alarie (22 points, 12 rebounds) knocked down the first triple of the quarter on Princeton's first possession, before Gabrielle Rush (14 points) hit two in a row on the ensuing trips down. The 9-0 run gave Princeton a 68-58 lead with 8:48 to play in regulation.

The Tigers remained up by double-digits as late as 3:07 to play, before a furious late rally by The Hall had the Pirates within a single possession at 83-80 after a pair of Brown free throws with 21 seconds to play. Unable to come up with a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, the Pirates sent Rush to the line for a pair of free throws that pushed the lead back to five. Inja Butina (Zagreb, Croatia) knocked down a 3-pointer as time expired but it was not enough to complete the comeback.

Head Coach Anthony Bozzella on the result:
"It was a really great game, Princeton is a really good team and I have so much respect for Coach Banghart and her program. At the end of the day, we made one too many mistakes and a team that good will make you pay. I was proud of our fight until the end and we will learn from this and get better."

Inside The Numbers

Princeton shot 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) for the game, including an 8-for-15 mark in the fourth quarter
Conversely, The Hall was held to 36.4 percent shooting (26-44) and a 10-for-36 mark in the second half.
The Pirates won the turnover battle for the third-straight game, forcing 19 and committing 13
The Hall held a 12-0 edge in fast break points and a 28-18 advantage in bench scoring, but Princeton held a huge 48-28 margin in points in the paint
The Pirates got to the charity stripe 36 times and connected on 31 attempts, an 86.1 percent clip
Joining Fountain in double-figures were Brown and JaQuan Jackson (Killeen, Texas) with 13 each and Deja Winters (Cleveland, Ohioo) with 11 off the bench

News and Notes

Brown snagged a team-high 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, while Fountain finished a rebound shy of doubling up for the second-straight game
Through three games a Pirate, Fountain is averaging 20.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game
Jackson was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line and Fountain finished 9-for-10
The Pirate bench is averaging 31.7 points per game on the young season
The Pirates drop 11-6 all-time against Princeton and 10-5 against in-state foes under Bozzella
The loss was only The Hall's second in 33 home non-conference games during the Bozzella era

What's Next
The Pirates will have a full week off before returning to action for the SHU Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 25 and 26. The Hall will face Rider in first round action and either East Carolina or Jacksonville State over the course of the tournament.