Johnson, Pirates Rally to Shock Butler, 67-62

Sunday, December 29

Indianapolis, Ind. / Hinkle Field House

2:00 PM

Seton Hall University

8-4,1-0Big East

Butler

8-4,0-1Big East

Seton Hall

Butler

12/29/2019 5:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – Senior Barbara Johnson (Toronto, Canada) drilled a game-winning three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining to complete a thrilling come-from-behind victory for the Seton Hall women's basketball team over Butler, 67-62, on Sunday in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Hall trailed by as many as 15 points with under a minute left in the third quarter, but outscored the Bulldogs, 24-8 in the final period to come away with the road win in the BIG EAST opener.

Johnson led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, which included 3-for-4 from three-point range. She also matched her season-high with five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.

Senior Alexis Lewis (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) finished with 17 points, and drained a trio of three-pointers. She also had a game-best six steals.

The Story:
Butler started the game on fire from the field, scoring the first nine points of the game, but the Pirates charged back with a 9-0 run of their own and a three-pointer by Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) tied the score at nine with 4:16 left in the first. Butler however, closed out the quarter with a 9-1 burst to take an 18-10 lead into the second quarter. The Pirates shot only 3-for-18 from the floor in the opening period.

Down 26-15 in the second quarter, the Pirates launched a 10-2 run, and another trifecta by Jackson cut The Bulldog lead to 28-25 with 2:51 left before halftime. A three-pointer by Johnson got The Hall to within two points, 30-28, but Butler scored twice in the final minute of the half to take a 34-28 advantage into the locker room. The Pirates remarkably trailed by only six points at the half despite being out-shot, 58.3% to 28.6% from the floor.

Johnson found a streaking Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) for a fast-break bucket with 6:01 left in the third quarter to tie the score at 37. After the score was tied for the first time, Butler went on a 17-2 game-changing run to take a commanding 54-39 advantage with 40 seconds left in the third.

The fourth quarter however, was a different story altogether. After falling down by 15 points, the Pirates went on a 13-2 burst, and a mid-range jumper in the paint by Lewis cut the Bulldogs' lead to 56-52 with 6:08 remaining.

Senior Shadeen Samuels (Ossining, N.Y.) scored on a fast-break to tie the game at 60 with 2:42 left to play, and that's when Johnson took over. With only 1:12 left to play, she calmly connected on a pair of free-throws to give Seton Hall its first lead of the game, 62-60. After Butler's Katherine Strong scored to tie the game at 62, Johnson launched her game-winner, a three-pointer in front of the Pirate bench with only 29 seconds remaining. Samuels iced the game with a pair of made free-throws with three seconds left.

BARBARA JOHNSON NAILS A THREE-POINTER WITH 28 SECONDS TO GO!! PIRATES LEAD, 65-62!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/7tdaTY3tQT
— Seton Hall WBB (@SHUWBB) December 29, 2019

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall won despite getting massively out-shot from the floor. Seton Hall was just 24-for-72 (33.3%) from the floor for the game, while Butler was 23-for-48 (47.9%). The Hall was 11-for-31 (35.5%) from three-point range, while the Bulldogs were 2-for-15 (13.3%).
Johnson had a game-high 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 3-for-4 shooting from three-point range. She also had five rebounds and two assists.
The Hall out-rebounded Butler, 38-to-36, which included an 18-to-7 advantage on the offensive boards and a massive 19-to-2 lead in second-chance points.
Lewis had 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including three made three-pointers. She also had five rebounds and a game-high six steals.
Seton Hall was 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the free-throw line, while Butler was 14-for-18 (77.8%).
Samuels was a point shy of a double-double, finishing with a team-high 11 rebounds and nine points.
Seton Hall forced 20 turnovers, while Butler forced 11. The Bulldogs only forced six however after the first quarter. The Pirates had 24 points off turnovers, compared to just eight for Butler.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST, while Butler falls to 8-4 and 0-1 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 8-5 all-time against Butler and are now 3-5 all-time at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With nine points today, Samuels needs just 22 more to become the 22^nd player in Seton Hall women's basketball history to record 1,000 career points.
Seton Hall improves to a perfect 8-0 when connecting on more field goals than its opponent. It's only the second time this season that the Pirates have won when being outshot from the floor.
Lewis reached double-figures in scoring today for the ninth time this season, which is second-most on the team.
The Pirates are a perfect 3-0 on games played on Sundays this season.
Seton Hall is now 17-21 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers, and an impressive 5-2 in conference openers under Head Coach Anthony Bozzella.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will remain on the road when it travels to Cincinnati for a BIG EAST contest at Xavier on New Year's Eve. The game will be a BIG EAST Digital Network broadcast, and of course will be provided on the radio by 89.5 FM WSOU and wsou.net. Tip-time on Tuesday is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.