Pirates Resume BIG EAST Play, Friday at Villanova

Friday, December 19

Finneran Pavilion / Villanova, Pa.

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

Villanova

12/18/2025 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

WATCH (ESPN+)LISTEN (WSOU)LIVE STATS GAME NOTES (.pdf)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2025
SETON HALL (7-3, 1-0) vs. VILLANOVA (8-2, 1-0)
VILLANOVA, PA. – Finneran Pavilion
7:00 p.m. ET

LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
(Nick Mantegna & Harry Perretta)
LIVE AUDIO: 89.5 FM WSOU or WSOU.net
(Joe Morales & Chris Heite)
FOLLOW ALONG: StatBroadcast | Instagram | X (Twitter)
GAME NOTES: SETON HALL | VILLANOVA

THE GAME
Seton Hall will return to action and BIG EAST Conference play on Friday, Dec. 19 when it makes the short trip to Villanova. Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

MEDIA
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Nick Mantegna & Harry Perretta on the call. As usual, the game will also be available over the airwaves at 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net. Joe Morales & Chris Heite will describe the action on the radio. Live stats will also be available.

WSOU is also airing a postgame "Hall Line" show following its women's basketball games. Be sure to tune in after the final buzzer.

LAST GAME
Freshman Zahara Bishop (Minneapolis, Minn.) had career-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Seton Hall women's basketball team defeated Washington State, 74-65, on Tuesday to close the non-conference portion of its schedule.

Seton Hall never trailed and led by as many as 25 points with 7:51 left in the third quarter, but the Cougars cut their deficit to as few as three points in the fourth quarter before the Pirates were able to ice the game late. The Pirates won the game with a devastating first quarter, outscoring Washington State, 30-to-10.

Bishop's double-double is the first of her career, while five other Pirates scored at least seven points. Junior Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) had 15 points, while Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Mariana Valenzuela (Mazatlan, Mexico) had eight points and five rebounds, Jordana Codio (Winter Garden, Fla.) tallied seven points and six rebounds, while Ja'Kahla Craft (Elk River, Minn.) collected seven points and two boards.

Seton Hall All-Time vs. the Wildcats: Villanova leads, 51-26
2024-25 Meeting: Seton Hall 56, Villanova 55 (F) – Jan. 1, 2025

AGAINST VILLANOVA
Seton Hall and Villanova will continue its long rivalry on Friday. It'll be the 78^th installment of the series with Villanova owning a 51-26 advantage in 77 prior meetings. Last year, the teams only met once due to the imbalanced conference schedule. Faith Masonius hit a miraculous backward shot at the buzzer in Finneran Pavilion to give The Hall a 56-55 victory. The win snapped a five-game winning streak in the series for the Wildcats.

SCOUTING VILLANOVA
Villanova is coming off a 21-15 season in 2024-25, which included an 11-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats earned the No. 5 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and defeated No. 4 Villanova in the quarterfinals before falling to top-seeded UConn in the semifinals. Villanova earned a bid to the WBIT and won three games before falling to Belmont in the national semifinals.

This season, the Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the 11-team BIG EAST according to its Preseason Coaches' Poll, just one spot behind the Pirates. The Wildcats return First Team All-BIG EAST honoree, Jasmine Bascoe, who led the team with 16.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Villanova will look to replace their top three-point shooters, Maddie Webber and Maddie Burke. The Wildcats welcome graduate student transfer Kylee Watson from Notre Dame, who was the No. 17 recruit in the class of 2020, but missed last season due to injury. Bascoe was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

Villanova enters Friday's contest with an impressive 8-2 record, having won six games in a row. Seton Hall and Villanova have had one common opponent this year as the Wildcats lost at home to Princeton, 73-68. The Wildcats' most impressive victory to date was an 81-59 drubbing of No. 25 West Virginia in Morgantown on Dec. 1. They won their first BIG EAST game, a seven-point victory at Georgetown on Dec. 4. Most recently, Villanova defeated Saint Joseph's, 76-70, on Dec. 7. Bascoe leads the team and ranks second in the BIG EAST with 18.0 points per game.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall will be back in action on Monday, Dec. 22 when it heads to Omaha, Neb. to take on BIG EAST rival Creighton. Tip time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+. 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net will also carry the game.