Records Fall as Pirates Upend Xavier, 108-65

Wednesday, February 24

Cincinnati, Ohio / Cintas Center

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

12-6,10-5Big East

108

Xavier

4-9,1-8Big East

Seton Hall

108

Xavier

Photo by: Matt Kipp

2/24/2021 9:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

CINCINNATI – The Seton Hall women's basketball team set program records for points and three-pointers made in a 108-65 rout of Xavier on Wednesday for its third straight victory.

Four Pirates scored at least 17 points, and sophomore Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) set the Seton Hall single-game record with 15 assists. The dynamic Pirate point guard added 17 points to collect her first career double-double.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) went off for a game-high 25 points on the strength of 5-for-8 shooting from three-point range. Sophomore Victoria Keenan (Bethlehem, Pa.) tied her career-high, going a perfect 7-for-7 from downtown. Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) also registered 21 points, and was 5-for-7 from long-range. Combined, the Pirates drained a new Seton Hall-record 17 three-pointers.

The Pirates shot season-highs from the floor (61.9%) and from three-point range (60.7%).

The Story:
Jackson started the game on fire from the field, connecting on her first two three-pointer attempts, and outscoring Xavier by herself, 8-2, in the first two minutes. Xavier, however, responded with a 9-0 run to take an 11-8 advantage with 5:56 left in the first quarter. That's when the Pirates really kicked their offense into high gear. The Hall went on a 22-3 run, which included four made three-pointers by Keenan, to take a commanding 30-14 advantage.

Seton Hall opened the second quarter with an 11-2 run, and a driving layup by Park-Lane gave it a 41-18 lead with 7:00 to go before halftime. The Pirates carried that same 23-point lead into the break. The Hall shot 57.1% from the field in the first half, and connected on 10-of-18 shots from three-point range.

The Pirates continued their offensive onslaught in the third quarter, outscoring the Musketeers, 30-to-15 in those 10 minutes. The Hall went on a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 76-41 with 2:46 left to play in the quarter.

Victoria Keenan just nailed the Pirates' program-record 17th three-pointer of the game. She's 7-for-7!!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/zNuHPYLino
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 25, 2021

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 39-for-63 (61.9%) from the floor for the game, while Xavier was 26-for-57 (45.6%). The Hall was 17-for-28 (60.7%) from three-point range, while the Musketeers were just 2-for-8 (25.0%).
Park-Lane registered her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 15 assists. She only had three turnovers.
Xavier out-rebounded The Hall, 31-to-29
Espinoza-Hunter had a game-high 25 points on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting, which included 5-for-8 shooting from three-point range. She also matched her career-high with three steals.
Seton Hall was 13-for-16 (81.3%) from the free-throw line, while Xavier was 11-for-15 (73.3%).
Keenan scored all 21 of her points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
Seton Hall forced 21 turnovers, while Xavier forced 9. The Pirates had a significant, 35-to-11, advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Jackson had 21 points, on the strength of 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
Seton Hall had 33 fast-break points, compared to just two for Xavier.
Senior Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) also had a strong game, collecting eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 12-6 overall and 10-5 in BIG EAST games, while Xavier falls to 4-9 overall and 1-8 in conference play.
The Pirates improve to 14-3 all-time against Xavier and have now won four straight in the series.
This is only the seventh time in the history of the BIG EAST that Seton Hall has won at least 10 conference games in a season. Four of those seasons have come under Head Coach Anthony Bozzella.
Seton Hall's 108 points tonight breaks the program single-game record. It's the seventh time in program history that the Pirates have reached 100 points in a single game, and only the second time The Hall has reached 100 points twice in the same season.
Espinoza-Hunter registered her seventh 20-point game this season. She has now scored in double-figures in 13 of 14 games since joining the Pirates.
Seton Hall's 17 made three-pointers tonight is a new program record.
Park-Lane's 15 assists tonight are a new single-game Seton Hall record. Additionally, she has now had at least five assists in 13 games so far this year and 24 times in her career.
With eight points tonight, Elmore passed former Pirate Heta Korpivaara into 25^th place on Seton Hall's all-time scoring list. She currently has 959 career points at Seton Hall.
The Pirates are a perfect 10-0 when its opponent scores fewer than 70 points.
Seton Hall has now forced at least 20 turnovers in 10 of 18 games so far this year.
Jackson's 20-point game is her fourth of the season and the sixth of her career.
Keenan's performance exactly matched her previous career-best performance in the season-opener against Saint Peter's. She has now twice recorded 21 points and gone 7-for-7 from three-point range this season.
With Espinoza-Hunter scoring 25 points tonight and both Jackson and Keenan scoring 21, it's the first time that three Pirates have topped 20 points in a single game since Alexis Lewis, Barbara Johnson and Desiree Elmore did so against Princeton last season.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, February 27 when it travels to Villanova. The game will be nationally televised on FS1, and of course will be provided on the radio by 89.5 FM WSOU and wsou.net. Tip-time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.