Pirates Open BIG EAST Play at Butler, Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Hinkle Fieldhouse

SETON HALL (7-4, 0-0) at BUTLER (8-3, 0-0)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Sunday,
Dec. 29

2:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUWBB

THE GAME
Seton Hall will begin the BIG EAST portion of its schedule when it returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 29 in Indianapolis, Ind. against Butler. Tip time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.

MEDIA
The game will be a BIG EAST Digital Network broadcast with Will Haskett and Scott Sudikoff on the call. You can find the free video stream at Caffeine,tv, YouTube or Twitter. As usual, the game will also be available over the airwaves at 89.5 FM WSOU and at wsou.net. The dulcet tones of Rich Behan and Mat Mlodzinski will provide the action. We'll also have the obligatory live stats available as well.

LAST GAME
Senior Shadeen Samuels (Ossining, N.Y.) led four Pirates to score in double-figures as the Seton Hall women's basketball team ran away with a 74-50 victory over Lafayette in their non-conference finale on Dec. 20.

Samuels had a dominant effort, erupting for a game-high 19 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in only 23 minutes of action. Barbara Johnson (Toronto, Ontario), Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) and Femi Funeus (Plantation, Fla.), who played in her first game of the season since returning from injury, all also reached double-figures in scoring.

Seton Hall took control from the start, opening the game on a 9-2 run. A jumper by Lafayette's Alexis Santarelli cut the Pirates' lead to 11-7, but The Hall responded by finishing the quarter with a 12-3 run. A three-pointer in transition by Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) with 19 seconds left gave the Pirates a 23-10 advantage after one quarter.

The Pirates opened the second quarter with the first five points, stretching their run to 17-3. Late in the quarter, Funeus made her season debut and scored six straight points for The Hall. The Hall, firmly in control, took a 34-18 lead into the halftime break. Samuels scored the first seven points of the third quarter and the Pirates never looked back. Leading 47-27, The Hall went on a 10-0 burst to put the game out of reach.

vs.

Seton Hall's All-Time vs. the Bulldogs: 7-5
Last Meeting: HALL 83, Butler 62 – Feb. 3, 2019

LAST TIME AGAINST BUTLER
The Pirates turned in a complete performance to knock off second-place Butler by a score of 83-62 in front of 1,344 fans last season on Feb. 3 at Walsh Gym.

Shadeen Samuels and Inja Butina combined for 48 points to lead the way for the Pirates, with Samuels adding 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. The Hall knocked down double-digit 3-pointers and led for nearly 35 minutes in the 21-point victory.

In the third quarter the Pirates saw their lead balloon to the largest of the day at 47-28 with a Samuels 3-pointer at 6:09 to play in the period. A Butina triple in the dying moments of the quarter kept the Pirates up 19 heading to the fourth. The Hall did not allow Butler to get closer than 15 in the final period and saw Kaela Hilaire go 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 2:02 of regulation to put the game away.

SCOUTING BUTLER
The Bulldogs are coming off a successful 23-10 season overall and an 11-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The third-seeded Bulldogs were upset in the opening round of the BIG EAST Tournament by sixth-seeded Creighton, 60-51. They went on to win two games in the WNIT before bowing to Cincinnati in the Sweet 16.

This year, Butler begins BIG EAST play with an 8-3 overall record and has won two straight. The Bulldogs are 7-1 at Hinkle so far this season. Butler's losses have come to Ball State, Georgia and No. 12 Indiana. The Bulldogs were picked to finish seventh in the 10-team BIG EAST this season per the Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Second-leading scorer Kristen Spolyar returns this year and is currently ranked second in the BIG EAST averaging 19.0 points per game.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall will make the short trip from Indianapolis to Cincinnati, Ohio for a BIG EAST contest at Xavier on New Year's Eve. Tip-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The BIG EAST Digital Network and 89.FM WSOU will again bring you all of the action.