Pirates Silence Xavier for Fifth Straight Win, 85-59

Saturday, January 23

South Orange, N.J.

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

Xavier

Pirates Silence Xavier for Fifth Straight Win, 85-59

1/23/2021 4:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Graduate Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) erupted for a game-high 28 points and the Seton Hall women's basketball team cruised to an 85-59 victory over Xavier on Saturday for its fifth straight win.

The Pirates trailed for only 16 seconds in the very beginning of the game, routing the Musketeers in a "foul fest" to improve to 6-2 in the BIG EAST Conference for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

Espinoza-Hunter had a game-best 28 points on 10-for-20 shooting, including four made three-pointers. Senior Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) and sophomore Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) each added 13 points.

The Story:
Trailing 3-2 early in the first quarter, The Hall went on a 15-2 run, spearheaded by Espinoza-Hunter who netted 10 of the Pirates points. The Pirates limited Xavier to just 4-for-17 shooting in the opening quarter, while forcing eight Xavier turnovers. Espinoza-Hunter outscored Xavier herself in the first, 12-to-10, as The Hall finished the opening frame ahead, 23-10.

Seton Hall kept its collective foot on the pedal to begin the second, beginning the quarter with a 10-3 burst to take a 33-13 lead with 5:28 to play before halftime. The Pirates then kept Xavier off the scoreboard for the final 4:57 of the second quarter and roared into the locker room on an 11-0 run, up 44-16. Seton Hall held the Musketeers to just two made field goals in the second quarter.

In the second half, despite a slow, foul-filled affair, the Pirates were able to grow their lead to as large as 36 points, 79-43, with 5:21 left in the game.

🎥🎥🎥 HIGHLIGHTS 🎥🎥🎥
Check out some highlights from today's 85-59 victory over Xavier...#HALLin 🏀🏴‍☠️🏀 pic.twitter.com/jHhoxn8ZTZ
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) January 23, 2021

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 27-for-57 (47.4%) from the floor for the game, while Xavier was 16-for-58 (27.6%). The Hall was 9-for-21 (42.9%) from three-point range, while the Musketeers were 7-for-27 (25.9%).
Espinoza-Hunter had a game-high 28 points on 10-for-20 shooting, including four made three-pointers. She also had four rebounds and two assists.
The Hall out-rebounded Xavier, 44-to-33, which included a slim 13-to-12 advantage on the offensive boards.
Elmore finished with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals.
Seton Hall was 22-for-28 (78.6%) from the free-throw line, while Xavier was 20-for-26 (76.9%).
Jackson had 13 points and four assists.
Seton Hall forced a season-high 28 turnovers, while Xavier forced 24. The Pirates had 37 points off turnovers, compared to just 15 for the Musketeers.
Junior Alexia Allesch (Basking Ridge, N.J.) had five points, a game-high 10 rebounds and three steals before fouling out.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in BIG EAST games, while Xavier falls to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 6-2 in BIG EAST Conference games for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Seton Hall has now won five straight games for the first time since a six-game streak late in the 2015-16 season.
The Hall improves to 13-3 all-time against Xavier and has now won three straight in the series.
Xavier's six points in the second quarter are tied for the third-fewest points scored by a Seton Hall opponent in a single quarter.
The teams combined for 56 personal fouls in the game, both being called for 28, which is a season-high for both Seton Hall and its opponent. They combined for 19 fouls in the third quarter alone.
With 13 points today, Elmore passed former Pirate Carol Axmann into 36^th place on Seton Hall's all-time scoring list. She currently has 850 career points.
Espinoza-Hunter has now scored at least 20 points in five consecutive games. She has scored in double-figures in seven straight games, every game of her career at Seton Hall.
Seton Hall has forced at least 20 turnovers in seven of 11 games so far this year.
With 13 points today, Jackson has surpassed the 400-point milestone for her career.
Seton Hall improves to 6-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
The Pirates are a perfect 6-0 when its opponent scores 70 or fewer points.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Wednesday, January 27 when it travels to Milwaukee, Wis. for a contest against BIG EAST rival Marquette at the Al McGuire Center. The game will be streamed live by the BIG EAST Digital Network and shown on FloHoops.com, and of course will be provided on the radio by 89.5 FM WSOU and wsou.net. Tip-time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.