Pirates Ready for WNIT Match-Up With Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio - The postseason has arrived for the Seton Hall women's basketball team (15-15). The Pirates will make their fifth appearance in the last six seasons in a postseason event, kicking off play in the 2019 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on Thursday at Toledo (20-11). Tip-off against the Rockets from Savage Arena is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN3 and WSOU.

SETON HALL TIP-INS >>

The Pirates are making their fifth postseason appearance in the last six seasons, matching their total from the prior 31 years of the BIG EAST era
The Hall is led by First Team All-BIG EAST performer Shadeen Samuels, who leads the conference in scoring and was named the league's Most Improved Player
Seton Hall is 21st nationally in assists per game and ranks top-50 in the country in both scoring offense and 3-pointers made per game
Inja Butina holds the Seton Hall all-time record for free throw percentage with a career 85.7 percent mark
Samuels (18.3 ppg), Butina (12.1 ppg), Nicole Jimenez (12.1 ppg) and Desiree Elmore (10.5 ppg) give the Pirates four players averaging double-figures

POSTSEASON PIRATES >>

Thursday will mark the start of Seton Hall's sixth run at the WNIT, dating back to 2003.
The Hall is 4-5 all-time in the WNIT, with its best performance coming in a Sweet 16 run in 2014
The Pirates have won at least one game in three of their prior five WNIT berths
Coupled with NCAA Tournament bids in 2015 and 2016, Seton Hall has made five postseason appearances in six seasons under Anthony Bozzella
The Hall is one of three teams in the BIG EAST (DePaul, Villanova) to reach the postseason this year and make the postseason in at least five seasons since 2013-14

ROCKET REPORT >>

Toledo hosts Seton Hall with a 20-11 overall record after going 11-7 in the MAC this season
Kaayla McIntyre leads the Rocket attack with 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, shooting 58.5 percent from the floor
Nakiah Black is also in double-figures with 10.7 points per game while Mariella Santucci is UT's top distributor with 5.0 assists per game
As a team, Toledo holds opponents to 60.6 points per game and holds a strong +3.7 rebounding margin on the year

WHAT'S AHEAD
Should the Pirates advance, they will face the winner of Northwestern and Dayton on March 23-26, to be determined.