Piates Bested by Top-Ranked UConn, 92-52

Saturday, January 24

South Orange, N.J.

12:00 PM

Seton Hall University

14-6,8-3Big East

Connecticut

21-0,11-0Big East

UConn

Seton Hall

1/24/2026 3:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Graduate student Mariana Valenzuela (Mazatlan, Mexico) had a game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds, but the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell to No. 1 Connecticut, 92-52, on Saturday in Walsh Gymnasium.

Seton Hall didn't appear to be intimidated early, scoring the first six points of the game and trailing by only five with 1:16 left in the first quarter. UConn's full-court press, however, wore down the Pirates as the game progressed, and the Huskies forced 27 turnovers for the game.

Valenzuela had 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting with eight rebounds and two steals. Junior Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two steals and drew nine UConn fouls.

THE STORY:
The Hall scored the first six points of the game, and remained close through much of the opening quarter. Down 9-8, a layup by Jordana Codio (Winter Garden, Fla.) gave the lead back to The Hall and forced UConn to take an early time out with 6:39 left in the first. A made three-pointer gave the Pirates a 15-13 advantage, but the Huskies answered with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. A trifecta by UConn's Blanca Quinonez gave UConn a 25-17 lead after 10 minutes.

A three-pointer by Natalia Hall-Rosa (Randolph, Mass.) cut The Hall's deficit to 34-24 with 4:37 left in the second, but UConn took off again with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 43-24 with 2:36 left before halftime. The Pirates trailed 50-28 at the half, but played a respectable half, shooting 40.7 percent from the field and tying the Huskies on the glass.

The Pirates never made a serious run in the second half, as the Huskies didn't allow their lead to dip below 21 points. Connecticut's 40-point lead at the end of the game was its largest.

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall was 17-for-55 (30.9%) from the floor for the game, while Connecticut was 35-for-60 (58.3%). The Hall was 5-for-25 (20.0%) from three-point range, while the Huskies were 11-for-29 (37.9%).
Valenzuela had 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting with eight rebounds and two assists.
UConn out-rebounded the Pirates, 32-to-31, but The Hall had a 12-to-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Catalon had 13 points on the strength of 2-for-4 shooting from three-point range with four rebounds and two steals. She also drew a game-high nine fouls.
Seton Hall was 13-for-16 (81.3%) from the free-throw line, while Connecticut was 11-for-12 (91.7%).
Seton Hall forced 16 turnovers, while the Huskies forced 27. The Huskies had a 37-to-12 advantage in points-off-turnovers.

THE NOTES:

Seton Hall falls to 14-6 overall and 8-3 in the BIG EAST, while Connecticut improves to 21-0 overall and 11-0 in conference play.
The Hall has won seven of its last nine games with its two losses coming to No. 1 Connecticut.
The Pirates are now 10-63 all-time against Connecticut and have now dropped the last 43 games in the series.
Seton Hall led UConn for 4:13 in today's game. It's the longest the Huskies have trailed this season in any game.
Today's contest was Valenzuela's 100^th career game played.
With two made three-pointers in Today's game, Catalon moves past former Pirate Veronica Sims into 16^th place on Seton Hall's career list with 95.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will be back in action on Thursday, January 29 when it heads to Washington, D.C. for a contest at long-time BIG EAST rival Georgetown. Tip-time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.