Park-Lane, Cooks Excel as Pirates Shock DePaul, 94-90

Friday, February 25

Chicago, Ill. / Wintrust Arena

8:00 PM

Seton Hall University

16-11,11-8Big East

DePaul

21-9,13-6Big East

Seton Hall

DePaul

Park-Lane, Cooks Excel as Pirates Shock DePaul, 94-90

2/25/2022 11:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Park-Lane scores 31 points, including her 1,000th, as Seton Hall wins for the eighth time in nine games.

CHICAGO – Junior Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) scored 31 points, including the 1,000^th of her career, and Sidney Cooks (Kenosha, Wis.) added 25 more to fuel the Seton Hall women's basketball team to a dramatic road victory over DePaul, 94-90, on Friday.

Park-Lane scored 17 of her game-high 31 points in the third quarter as the Pirates claimed a lead they never relinquished in the fourth. Seton Hall's victory is its eighth in the last nine games and guarantees an above .500 season in BIG EAST play.

The dynamic point guard was 5-for-8 from three-point range, had six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Cooks collected her fourth double-double in the last five games with 25 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Junior Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) made her return from injury with 16 points on the strength of 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The Story:
DePaul scored the first bucket of the game, but the Pirates responded with an 8-2 run fueled by six early points from Cooks. A three-pointer by Jackson gave The Hall a 15-10 lead, but the Blue Demons bounced back with a 10-2 burst to give them a 20-17 advantage with 2:17 left in the first quarter. The Hall, however, scored the last six points of the first quarter and held a 23-20 lead after the first 10 minutes.

A pair of free-throws by Espinoza-Hunter extended The Hall's lead to 25-22, but DePaul bounced back with an 11-0 run to jump ahead 33-25 with 6:04 left in the second quarter. Another three-pointer by Jackson cut the Pirates' deficit to 36-30, but DePaul answered with the next five points to grab a commanding 41-30 advantage with 4:59 to go before the break. Down 44-35, the Pirates closed out the first half with an 8-0 run, and Park-Lane's buzzer-beater not only put her over 1,000 points for her career, but sent the Pirates into the locker room down only one, 44-43.

Down 47-45 early in the second half, Park-Lane took over. The point guard scored the next 13 points for the Pirates and her three-pointer with 6:21 to go in the third gave them a 58-52 lead. A turnaround jumper in the paint by Cooks gave The Hall a 62-55 lead, but DePaul bounced back and outscored the Pirates, 13-5, over the next three minutes to take a 68-67 advantage with 2:05 left in the third. The Hall finished strong, however, and a driving layup by Park-Lane and three-pointer by Cooks put it back in front, 72-68, entering the fourth quarter.

Although the Pirates' lead was reduced to only two points on four different occasions in the fourth, the Pirates never trailed. A jumper by Park-Lane with 5:32 remaining extended the Pirates' lead to 10 points, 85-75. DePaul, however, rallied with a 9-1 run to cut its deficit to 86-84 with 3:26 to go. Up 90-88, Seton Hall's defense was magnificent in the final 1:30, holding the Blue Demons to just 1-for-6 shooting, while Espinoza-Hunter connected on four straight free-throws to ice the Pirates' victory.

WHAT A WAY TO SCORE YOUR 1,000TH POINT!! Lauren Park-Lane beats the halftime buzzer with a trifecta!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/f4Ndgn6Ffp
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 26, 2022

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 36-for-69 (52.2%) from the floor for the game, while DePaul was 34-for-88 (38.6%). The Hall was 9-for-19 (47.4%) from three-point range, while the Blue Demons were 14-for-39 (35.9%).
Park-Lane erupted for 31 points on the strength of 5-for-8 shooting from three-point range with six assists, six rebounds and two steals.
The Hall out-rebounded DePaul, 48-to-44, but the Blue Demons had a 17-to-10 advantage on the offensive glass and a 25-to-12 lead in second-chance points.
Cooks finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Seton Hall was 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the free-throw line, while DePaul was 8-for-12 (66.7%).
Jackson had 16 points on the strength of 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range.
Seton Hall forced eight turnovers, while DePaul forced 18 and had a 27-to-4 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Espinoza-Hunter had 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Junior Mya Bembry (West Orange, N.J.) finished with seven points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Mya Bembry with the acrobatic finish AND THE FOUL!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/bJe2uGwAMp
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 26, 2022

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 16-11 overall and 11-8 in BIG EAST games, while DePaul drops to 21-9 overall and 13-6 in conference play. The Pirates have now won eight of their last nine games.
The Pirates improve to 6-24 all-time against DePaul and snap a six-game losing streak in the series.
With 31 points today, Park-Lane became the 24^th player in Seton Hall history to record 1,000 points in a Pirate uniform.
With six assists today, Park-Lane passed former Pirate Ka-Deidre Simmons to set a new single-season assists record. The new mark is now 197 and counting.
Cooks' double-double is her team-leading ninth of the season.
Seton Hall improves to 6-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
With three made three-pointers today, Jackson moved past former Pirates Nicole Jimenez and Terry Green into fifth place on Seton Hall's career list with 133.
Park-Lane's 30-point game is her fourth of the season and fifth of her career. It's her 11^th 20-point game this season and the 17^th of her career.
Park-Lane has now played every minute of the Pirates' last five games, including all 50 of The Hall's double-overtime loss against Creighton on Feb. 20.
With 12 points tonight, Espinoza-Hunter passed the 1,200-point mark for her career.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Tuesday, March 1 when it travels to Cincinnati for a game at Xavier in its regular season finale. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live by the BIG EAST Digital Network and available for FloSports subscribers.