Pirates Return to Walsh to Host Xavier, Friday

SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY - Walsh Gymnasium

SETON HALL (16-11, 9-7) vs. XAVIER (3-24, 2-14)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Friday,
Feb. 28

7:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUWBB

THE GAME
Seton Hall will return to action on Friday, February 28 for a BIG EAST contest with Xavier in Walsh Gymnasium. Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

MEDIA
The game will be a BIG EAST Digital Network broadcast with David Gass and Kim Adams on the call. You can find the free video stream at Caffeine,tv or YouTube. As usual, the game will also be available over the airwaves at 89.5 FM WSOU and at wsou.net. Rich Behan and Christian Gardner will describe the action on the radio. We'll also have the obligatory live stats available as well.

LAST GAME
Three Pirates recorded double-doubles, but the Pirates fell in the waning seconds of a back-and-forth BIG EAST contest at St. John's, 77-76, on Saturday.

The Hall led by one with the ball with 10 seconds remaining, but the Pirates' inbounds pass was knocked away, and in the ensuing scrum on the floor, St. John's Kadaja Bailey was fouled. She went to the line and made both free-throws with four seconds left to hand the victory to the Red Storm.

Senior Alexis Lewis (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) had a team-high 22 points to go with 12 rebounds. Shadeen Samuels (Ossining, N.Y.) had 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) added 16 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

After Samuels scored 14 seconds into the fourth quarter to put The Hall up four points, the game wasn't more than a one-possession game the rest of the way. Down three with 1:34 left to play, Lewis hit a jumper to cut The Hall's deficit to one. With 21 seconds left, a put-back by Elmore gave the Pirates a 76-75 lead. With 10 seconds left and The Hall still leading by one, the Pirates secured a rebound and called their final timeout. With three fouls to give, St. John's fouled on three Pirate inbounds plays, but on the fourth inbound, a St. John's player got a hand on the loose ball, and in the scrum for the ball, Bailey was fouled. Bailey made both free-throws with four seconds left to give St. John's the lead. Park-Lane scrambled the length of the floor to put up a shot, which touched three sides of the rim, but ultimately fell off.

vs.

Seton Hall's All-Time vs. the Musketeers: 11-3
Last Meeting: HALL 83, Xavier 61 – Dec. 31, 2019

LAST TIME AGAINST XAVIER
In front of 250 family and friends, freshman Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) erupted for a career-high 25 points as the Pirates trounced Xavier, 83-61, on New Year's Eve. Jackson was brilliant, missing only three shots on the afternoon in a 9-for-12 performance from the field. She was 7-for-9 from three-point range and also grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Senior Shadeen Samuels finished with 17 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and three steals, while junior Desiree Elmore was a third Pirate to reach double-figures with 10 points to go with six rebounds.

Both teams had trouble scoring as the game began, but once the Pirates got started, they didn't stop. The Hall scored 15 of the game's first 16 points, capped by a Samuels layup. Meanwhile, The Hall's defense didn't allow a Xavier field goal until there was only 2:04 left in the first quarter. Although the lead was as many as 14, the Pirates took a 23-12 lead into the second quarter.

Seton Hall put the game away at the start of the fourth quarter. A 9-0 run on a pair of three-pointers by Jackson sandwiched around one by Barbara Johnson (Toronto, Ontario) gave the Pirates a 71-49 lead with 7:55 left in the game. Xavier never cut their deficit to less than 17 points the rest of the way.

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 3-24 overall record. The Musketeers are 2-14 in conference play, but snapped a 10-game losing streak with a convincing 61-42 victory over Providence last Friday. On Sunday, they fell to Creighton, 76-62.

Xavier is led by junior A'riana Gray who has emerged as one of the marquee players in the league, pacing her team with 16.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, March 1 for its regular season finale when it hosts Butler at historic Walsh Gymnasium. Tip-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. The contest will be stream live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, and as usual, 89.FM WSOU will bring you all the action on the radio.