Pirates Ring In New Year On Friday At Butler

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - One down, 17 to go.

After opening BIG EAST play with a thrilling victory over St. John's on Sunday, the Seton Hall women's basketball team (9-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) continues conference action with a two-game road swing beginning on Friday night at Butler (12-1, 2-0 BIG EAST). Tip-off between two of the league's three remaining unbeaten squads is set for 7 p.m. and will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network and FOX Sports App. In addition, the contest can be heard over the air on WSOU, 89.5 FM or WSOU.net.

Butler chased a successful 10-1 run through non-conference play last weekend with a pair of big road wins, knocking off both Villanova and Georgetown in a two-game east coast swing. The Hall made the most of its "bye" week by coming back from a halftime deficit to knock off rival St. John's by a score of 77-67 on Dec. 30. The two squads split their regular season series last year for the second-straight year. Since BU joined the BIG EAST in 2013-14, The Hall is 6-4 in the series.

SETON HALL TIP-INS

The Pirates kicked off BIG EAST play on Sunday, knocking off rival St. John's by a score of 77-67
The Hall improved to 4-2 in league openers under Anthony Bozzella with the win on Sunday
Inja Butina garnered a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll after scoring 19 points with five assists and four steals against the Red Storm
Butina is averaging 17.7 points over her last three contests since returning from an injury that cost her the better part of four games
The Pirates are top-25 nationally in scoring offense, assists per game, 3-pointers made, steals per game, turnovers forced and turnover margin
Shadeen Samuels ranks top-15 in the BIG EAST in five major statistical categories: points per game, rebounding, field goal percentage, steals per game and blocked shots
Nicole Jimenez is second on The Hall and 14th in the BIG EAST with 12.9 points per game and leads the conference with 3.3 made 3-pointers per game

LAST GAME RECAP >>

The Hall was last in action on Sunday, opening conference play with a 77-67 victory against rival St. John's in front of a season-high 1,344 fans at historic Walsh Gym
The Pirates were down six after a quarter and trailed by one at the half before out-scoring SJU 23-14 in the third quarter and building their lead to as many as 13 in the fourth
Inja Butina led four Pirates in double-figures with 19 points, also adding five assists and four steals
Behind her was Nicole Jimenez with 16 points, Shadeen Samuels with 15 and Desiree Elmore with 12
The Pirates grabbed a key advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Red Storm 42-37 thanks to a career-high 12 caroms for Selena Philoxy
That rebounding edge helped SHU notch a 16-5 advantage in second chance points
The Hall also continued season-long trends of effective ball-sharing and 3-point shooting, assisting on 19 of 25 field goals and going 9-of-18 from 3-point range

BULLDOG BULLETS >>

Butler hosts The Hall with a 12-1 overall record, a 2-0 conference record and a perfect 7-0 mark at Hinkle Fieldhouse
After a non-conference that saw the Bulldogs pick a marquee win over Ohio State, BU opened league play with wins at Villanova and Georgetown
Whitney Jennings leads three Bulldogs in double-figures with 14.5 points per game, followed by Tori Schickel at 12.7 and Kristen Spolyar with 12.5
Schickel also ranks among the league leaders with 9.2 rebounds per game, helping Butler to a +10.6 rebounding margin on the season
BU will look to slow down the pace against the high-tempo Pirates, holding opponents to 51.9 points per game and 34.0 percent shooting on the year
- For contrast, Seton Hall averages 81.3 points per game and shoots 44.5 percent from the floor
- Butler opponents are making 6.8 3-pointers per game, a full 3.0 per game less than the Pirates average
Overall on the year, Butler is out-scoring opponents by 17.6 points per game

WHAT'S AHEAD
The Hall will stay on the road and head to Xavier for a Sunday, Jan. 6 showdown at the Cintas Center.