Park-Lane Erupts Again, But Pirates Fall to Nova

Wednesday, January 6

South Orange, N.J.

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

3-3,1-2Big East

Villanova

8-2,3-2Big East

Villanova

Seton Hall

1/6/2021 4:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Sophomore Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) scored a game-high 27 points, but the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell to Villanova, 78-71, at Walsh Gym on Wednesday.

Park-Lane notched her third straight 20-point game, going 7-for-14 from the floor and a near-perfect 12-for-13 from the free-throw line.

Senior Desiree Elmore (Harford, Conn.) and Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) also reached double-figures in scoring for the Pirates. Elmore had 15 points, including 13 in the first half, to go with a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Espinoza-Hunter had 10 points and three rebounds.

The Story:
Seton Hall began the game shooting well from the floor and a 9-2 run put it up by 10, 18-8 with a minute left in the quarter. Villanova however, charged back with a run of their own, outscoring the Pirates 15-8 over the next 4:15, and a layup by Brianna Herlihy put the Wildcats on top, 23-22.

After holding Villanova to just 29.4% shooting in the first quarter, the Wildcats fired at a 61.9 clip in the second to build a 40-34 halftime advantage. While Villanova's shooting improved mightily in the second quarter, it was dominant on the glass throughout the first half, out-rebounding The Hall, 27-to-9. The Pirates didn't have an offensive rebound in the first 20 minutes.

Trailing 43-36, The Hall went on a 9-0 run, and a layup by Alexia Allesch (Basking Ridge, N.J.) gave the Pirates a 45-43 advantage with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Villanova again bounced back though, and with the score tied at 47, Maddy Siegrist hit a three-pointer that gave the Wildcats the lead for good.

With Seton Hall down by 12 points, Espinoza-Hunter and Allesch hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Park-Lane then drove to the hoop and scored for a quick 8-0 burst which cut The Hall's deficit to just 67-63 with 3:01 left in the contest. The Hall couldn't get closer, however, and Villanova held on for a seven-point victory.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 25-for-61 (41.0%) from the floor for the game, while Villanova was 33-for-68 (48.5%). The Hall was 7-for-22 (31.8%) from three-point range, while the Wildcats were 7-for-21 (33.3%).
Park-Lane scored a game-high 27 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the floor and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line.
Villanova out-rebounded The Hall, 42-to-29, which included a 13-to-7 advantage on the offensive boards and a 12-to-8 lead in second-chance points.
Elmore scored 15 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Seton Hall was 14-for-15 (93.3%) from the free-throw line, while Villanova was 5-for-6 (83.3%).
Espinoza-Hunter finished with 10 points with three rebounds.
Seton Hall forced 15 turnovers, while Villanova forced 12. The Pirates had the edge in points-off-turnovers, 20-to-10.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall drops to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in BIG EAST games, while Villanova improves to 8-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
The Hall drops to 23-45 all-time against the Wildcats and has now lost eight of the last nine games in the series.
It is Park-Lane's third 20-point game in a row, the first three of her career. She has now scored in double-figures in eight straight games dating back to last season.
Park-Lane has now started 37 consecutive games, every game of her collegiate career.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Monday, January 11 when it heads back on the road for a BIG EAST game in Indianapolis, Ind. against Butler. The game will be streamed by the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports, and of course will be provided on the radio by 89.5 FM WSOU and wsou.net. Tip-time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.