Pirates Earn Resume Win; Down Villanova on Road, 67-55

Saturday, February 27

Villanova, Pa. / Finneran Pavilion

8:00 PM

Seton Hall University

13-6,11-5Big East

Villanova

14-5,9-5Big East

Seton Hall

Villanova

Pirates Earn Resume Win; Down Villanova on Road, 67-55

2/27/2021 10:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

VILLANOVA, PA. – Senior Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) erupted for team-highs of 21 points and 16 rebounds as the Seton Hall women's basketball team picked up a convincing road victory over Villanova, 67-55, on Saturday.

Seton Hall led for the majority of the game and never trailed after the first quarter. A 9-0 burst early in the third quarter proved to be the difference-maker as the Pirates won their fourth game in a row.

Elmore was brilliant, scoring a team-high 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting form the floor and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. She also pulled down 16 rebounds and dished out four assists. Sophomore Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) also had a huge game, going for 20 points and dished out five assists. Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) added 16 more points and grabbed seven rebounds in 40 minutes played.

The Story:
Villanova grabbed an 18-14 lead in the waning moments of the first quarter, but the Pirates responded with a 10-0 run, to jump ahead, 24-18 with 8:36 left in the second quarter. Espinoza-Hunter was responsible for eight of the Pirates' 10 points during the run. The Hall, however, went cold after their run, and connected on just one for their next 10 shots. Despite the lack of offense, the Pirates maintained their lead because of their heighted defense. The Hall forced 12 Villanova turnovers in the opening half, and took a 29-28 advantage at the break.

Seton Hall held a halftime advantage despite shooting just 28.6% from the field, while Villanova fired at a 48.0% clip.

With the game tied at 31, the Pirates went on a 9-0 run capped by a three-point play from Park-Lane to give The Hall a 40-31 advantage with 5:40 left in the third quarter. Leading by nine with under 10 seconds to go, Alexia Allesch (Basking Ridge, N.J.) came up with a huge block, which turned into a fast-break for Seton Hall. Park-Lane found Espinoza-Hunter on the wing, and the graduate drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send The Hall into the fourth quarter up, 54-42.

Seton Hall turned up their defensive effort in the fourth quarter. Villanova's Madison Siegrist hit a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the fourth, but then the Wildcats went without a field goal for virtually the entire quarter, 8:02. In the process, The Hall built their advantage to as many as 14 points, and the Pirates iced the game on the free-throw line.

THAT'S HOW YOU CLOSE A QUARTER!! Alexia Allesch with the big block and then Andra Espinoza-Hunter beats the buzzer with a three!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/8qZy6LhSLl
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 28, 2021

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 21-for-60 (35.0%) from the floor for the game, while Villanova was 19-for-53 (35.8%). The Hall was 6-for-21 (28.6%) from three-point range, while the Wildcats were 5-for-22 (22.7%).
Elmore finished with 21 points, on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, 16 rebounds and four assists.
The Hall out-rebounded Villanova, 42-to-38, which included a 10-to-6 advantage on the offensive boards.
Park-Lane had 20 points and five assists.
Seton Hall was 19-for-26 (73.1%) from the free-throw line, while Villanova was 12-for-16 (75.0%).
Espinoza-Hunter finished with 16 points on the strength of 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range. She also pulled down seven rebounds and had two steals.
Seton Hall forced 16 turnovers, while Villanova forced 12.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 13-6 overall and 11-5 in BIG EAST games, while Villanova falls to 14-5 overall and 9-5 in conference play.
The Pirates improve to 24-44 all-time in the series against Villanova and have now split the season series in each of the last two seasons. The Hall has won two straight at Finneran Pavilion.
The victory ensures the Pirates will finish above Villanova in the final standings and have a BIG EAST Tournament seed no lower than No. 4. The Pirates could still hop DePaul for the No. 3 seed if Seton Hall defeats St. John's on Monday and DePaul loses to Butler.
Elmore's double-double is her fifth of the season and the 11^th of her career. She has now reached double-figures in scoring 15 times this season and 53 times in her career.
Espinoza-Hunter has now scored in double-figures in 14 of 15 games since joining the Pirates.
Park-Lane has now had at least five assists in 14 games so far this year and 25 times in her career.
The Pirates are a perfect 11-0 when its opponent scores fewer than 70 points.
With 20 points today, Park-Lane became the 66^th player in Seton Hall history to reach the 500-point milestone for her career. It's the sixth time this season she has reached the 20-point plateau.
Seton Hall has now won four in a row for the second time this season. The last time the Pirates had two separate streaks of four straight wins was during the 2015-16 season.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Monday, March 1 when it wraps up the regular season in Queens at St. John's. 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 7:00 p.m. ET.