Catalon, Valenzuela Will Pirates Past Fordham in 2OT Thriller

Thursday, November 20

South Orange, N.J.

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

4-0,0-0Big East

Fordham

3-3,0-0Atlantic 10

OT 1

OT 2

Fordham

Seton Hall

Catalon, Valenzuela Will Pirates Past Fordham in 2OT Thriller

11/20/2025 11:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Junior Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and had 15 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtimes to lift the Seton Hall women's basketball team to an improbable, 90-83, double-overtime victory on Thursday.

Down 80-79 in the second overtime, Catalon drained a three-pointer to give The Hall a two-point lead with 2:06 to play. A minute later, Messiah Hunter (Hopewell, Va.) provided the dagger, a made three-pointer with 1:10 left to give The Hall an 85-80 cushion.

Catalon was brilliant late in the game, scoring eight of the Pirates' final nine points of regulation and playing the final 13:30 of the game with four fouls. She finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals in nearly 47 minutes played. She was also 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Mariana Valenzuela (Mazatlan, Mexico) scored a career-high 21 points on the strength of 5-for-8 shooting from three-point range. She also had eight rebounds, four steals and two assists. Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.), who was questionable to play due to illness, had 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

THE STORY:
Valenzuela hit her third three-pointer of the first half to give The Hall a 24-18 lead with 7:32 to go before halftime, but Fordham answered with a 14-3 run to grab a 32-27 advantage with just 3:23 left before the break. The Pirates closed the half with a 9-2 burst to take a 36-34 lead into halftime despite allowing the Rams to shoot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

Fordham's Alexis Black had 11 of her game-high 42 points in the third quarter as the Rams pulled even, 54-54, to enter the fourth.

The Hall was held without a made field goal for the final 4:54 of regulation, but fortunately the Pirates continued to connect on the free-throw line. Trailing 72-70 with four seconds left in regulation, Jordana Codio (Winter Garden, Fla.) was whistled for an illegal screen, turning the ball over to Fordham. A Pirates' foul put Fordham's Ornella Niankan on the line with two seconds left, but the Ram missed both. Catalon grabbed the rebound and was fouled in the scrum with 0.9 seconds remaining. She sunk both free-throws to force overtime.

After a first overtime that featured just five points for both teams, the Pirates finally found their offensive rhythm in the second bonus period, buoyed by made three-pointers from Catalon and Hunter.

Clinging to a two-point lead with 1:10 left in double-overtime, Messiah Hunter does THIS!! #HALLin 🏀🏴‍☠️🔵⚪ @MarchMadnessWBB @BIGEASTWBB pic.twitter.com/6ynXcBMUxG
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) November 21, 2025

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall was 24-for-74 (32.4%) from the floor for the game, while Fordham was 31-for-72 (43.1%). The Hall was 10-for-32 (31.3%) from three-point range, while the Rams were 8-for-22 (36.4%).
Catalon had 20 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter and overtimes, to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Fordham out-rebounded The Hall, 48-to-46, but the Pirates had a 21-to-16 edge on the offensive glass.
Valenzuela had a career-high 21 points on the strength of 5-for-8 shooting from three-pointers to go with eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Seton Hall was 32-for-45 (71.1%) from the free-throw line, while Fordham was 13-for-20 (65.0%).
Eads finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Seton Hall forced 26 turnovers, while the Rams forced 14. The Hall had a 28-to-18 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Hunter had five points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Sophomore Ja'Kahla Craft (Elk River, Minn.) had seven points and seven rebounds, all offensive, to go with two steals.

THE NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 4-0 on the young season, while Fordham drops to 3-3.
The Pirates improve to 10-5 all-time against the Rams and have now won three in a row.
This was the fourth straight game to begin the season that Seton Hall has forced at least 20 turnovers.
Seton Hall's 26.0 turnovers forced per game currently leads the BIG EAST and ranks 13^th in the nation.
Seton Hall has collected at least 10 steals in all four games so far this season.
Alexis Black's 42 points are the second-most in a single-game for a Seton Hall opponent in program history.
Surprisingly, this was Seton Hall's third double-overtime game in the last five seasons. It's the first since falling to Princeton on Nov. 29, 2023. Furthermore, it's the first time The Hall has won in double-overtime since outlasting Rhode Island on Dec. 29, 2010.
With 20 points today, Catalon surpassed the 600-points milestone for her career.
Catalon reached 20 points in a single game for the eighth time in her career.
Seton Hall improves to 143-56 in home games under head coach Anthony Bozzella, and 75-14 against non-conference opponents in Walsh Gym.
The Hall's 32 made free-throws is the fourth-highest single-game total in program history. It's 45 attempts is the third-highest total.
This was Catalon's fourth career game with a perfect free-throw percentage on at least 10 attempts. Only two other players in Seton Hall history have accomplished the feat once.
Catalon's 47 minutes played is the fourth-most in a single-game in program history.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when it makes the short trip to take on Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium. Tip-time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.