Pirates Look for 2-0 BIG EAST Start at Xavier, Tuesday

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Cintas Center

SETON HALL (8-4, 1-0) at XAVIER (1-11, 0-1)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Tuesday,
Dec. 31

1:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUWBB

THE GAME
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Seton Hall will return to action on New Year's Eve, that's Tuesday, December 31 when it travels to Cincinnati, Ohio for a BIG EAST Conference contest at Xavier. Tip time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET.

MEDIA
The game will be a BIG EAST Digital Network broadcast with Mike Schmaltz and Paul Fritschner 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 Mat Mlodzinski and Rich Behan will provide the action. We'll also have the obligatory live stats available as well.

LAST GAME
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 Pirates 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.

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.

vs.

Seton Hall's All-Time vs. the Musketeers: 10-3
Last Meeting: Xavier 80, HALL 76 – Feb. 1, 2019

LAST TIME AGAINST XAVIER
The Pirates made a late push but could not come all the way back in an 80-76 setback to Xavier on Feb. 1 at Walsh Gym last year. The Pirates cut what was a 17-point deficit down to two in the waning moments of regulation before ultimately succumbing.

Shadeen Samuels led three Pirates in double-figures with a game-high 28 points, adding five rebounds, five assists and two steals in defeat. The Hall ran into a hot-shooting Xavier squad that knocked down 13 shots from 3-point range and got team-highs of 21 points and eight assists from Na'Teshia Owens.

Desiree Elmore went to the line for the Pirates with under 15 seconds to play down 78-72 and sunk a pair, then saw Kaela Hilaire steal the ensuing inbounds pass and feed Samuels for a lay-up that cut the lead to a single basket. Xavier called timeout with 8.1 ticks to play and advanced to inbound on the sideline, where Philoxy came up with a steal briefly before a traveling violation against The Hall. Owens would then hit two more free throws to push the lead back to its final margin of four.

SCOUTING XAVIER
The Musketeers are coming off an 11-19 season, which included a 2-16 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. Their season ended with a first-round loss to Providence in the BIG EAST Championship.

This year, Xavier enters its contest against Seton Hall with a 1-11 overall record. The Musketeers are 0-1 in conference play after falling to St. John's, 75-67, in their conference opener on Sunday. Xavier's lone victory came in their first game, a 70-63 win over Utah. The Musketeers have lost 11 straight games since.

Xavier is led by junior A'riana Gray who is averaging a double-double with team-highs of 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall will return to the friendly confines of historic Walsh Gymnasium on Friday, January 3 when it hosts Villanova. Tip-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. The BIG EAST Digital Network and 89.FM WSOU will again bring you all of the action.