Pirates Pin First Loss on St. John's with Eye-Opening Effort

Wednesday, January 4

South Orange, N.J.

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

12-4,5-1Big East

#24 St. John's

13-1,4-1Big East

St. John's (NY)

Seton Hall

Amari Wright drives for a layup against St. John's on Jan. 4

Pirates Pin First Loss on St. John's with Eye-Opening Effort

1/4/2023 10:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE - SJU (.pdf)

Amari Wright has career-highs of 17 points and seven steals, while Lauren Park-Lane and Sidney Cook log double-doubles.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Junior Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) had a career-best performance and both Sidney Cooks (Kenosha, Wis.) and Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) had double-doubles as the Seton Hall women's basketball team routed previously undefeated, No. 24 St. John's, 72-51, in Walsh Gym on Wednesday.

The Hall has now won 10 of its last 11 games, including two over AP Top-25 opponents.

Seton Hall trailed for only 51 seconds and its defense held the Red Storm to just 34.5% shooting for the game, while forcing 21 turnovers. The Hall had a 32-to-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Wright's performance was nothing short of perfect, scoring a career-high 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She also collected a career-high seven steals.

Cooks matched Wright's 17 points to go with a team-high 12 rebounds and three assists, while Park-Lane had 15 points, a game-high 11 assists and three steals.

THE STORY:
Seton Hall's defense was the story early on as St. John's connected on only two of their first 18 shots. The Pirates held the Red Storm without a field goal for 6:16 and built a 12-6 advantage. Leading 12-9, The Hall got a three-pointer from Cooks and a breakaway layup by Wright to grab a 17-9 lead.

The Pirates opened the second quarter with a 7-0 burst, and a three-pointer by Park-Lane gave them a commanding 24-11 lead under a minute into the second. Mya Bembry (West Orange, N.J.) hit a long jumper on the baseline to send The Hall into the locker room up, 34-25.

Seton Hall shot 46.7% from the field in the first half compared to just 29.4% for the Red Storm. The Pirate defense forced 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and Wright alone, had five steals.

Leading 51-37, The Hall closed out the third quarter on an 8-0 run, punctuated by a three-pointer from Wright, to grab a 59-37 advantage. In the fourth, the Pirate lead was never reduced to lower than 18 points.

PIRATES WIN!!

A complete team effort from start to finish and The Hall downs its second Top-25 opponent of the season! It's time everyone take notice... that's 10 out of 11 folks.#HALLin 🏀🏴‍☠️🏀 @AffinityFCU pic.twitter.com/4hM88EoHJE
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) January 5, 2023

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall was 31-for-59 (52.5%) from the floor for the game, while St. John's was 20-for-58 (34.5%). The Hall was 5-for-11 (45.5%) from three-point range, while the Red Storm were 5-for-17 (29.4%).
Wright finished with a career-high 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She also had a career-best seven steals.
The Hall was out-rebounded by St. John's, 37-to-32, including a 15-to-7 edge on the offensive glass and a 10-to-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Cooks had a double-double with 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds to go with three assists.
Seton Hall was 5-for-7 (71.4%) from the free-throw line, while St. John's was 6-for-8 (75.0%).
Park-Lane had a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 assists to go with five assists and three steals.
Seton Hall forced 21 turnovers, while St. John's forced 10. The Pirates had a remarkable 32-to-6 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Sha'Lynn Hagans (Manassas, Va.) finished with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field.
Bembry tallied eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

THE NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the BIG EAST, while St. John's suffers its first loss and falls to 13-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Pirates have now won 10 of their last 11 games.
The Pirates are now 5-1 in BIG EAST Conference play for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Seton Hall has now defeated two Associated Press ranked opponents in the same season for the first time since the 2015-16 season. The Hall defeated No. 24 Marquette, 82-78, on Dec. 4.
The Hall is 37-49 all-time against the Red Storm and has won four of the last five games in the series.
The Hall improves to 112-42 in Walsh Gym during the Bozzella era. Furthermore, the Pirates are now 55-31 against BIG EAST opponents at home.
Seton Hall improves to 12-0 this season when leading at the half.
The Pirates improve to 12-2 this year when out-shooting their opponent and 11-2 when shooting better than 40.0% from the field.
With one made three-pointer today, Park-Lane moved past former teammate Mya Jackson into fifth place on Seton Hall's career list with 149.
St. John's is the seventh opponent Seton Hall has held to under 60 points this season. The Pirates have won all seven games. Additionally, it's the first time St. John's has been held to under 60 points this year.
Cooks' double-double is her fourth of the year and the 16^th of her career, which leads all active Pirates. It's Park-Lane's first of the season and ninth of her career.
Seton Hall forced at least 20 turnovers in a game for the seventh time this season. They're 5-2 in those games.
With five rebounds tonight, Bembry surpassed the 500-rebounds mark for her career.
Senior Victoria Keenan (Bethlehem, Pa.) made her season debut with 2:11 minutes played. It's a remarkable return after missing the last two seasons due to injury.
The teams combined to commit only 15 fouls, with the Pirates committing nine. It's the fewest number of fouls combined by Seton Hall and an opponent this year.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, January 8 when it travels to BIG EAST rival Providence. Tip is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live by the BIG EAST Digital Network and available for FloHoops subscribers. It'll also be available on 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net.