Seton Hall women’s basketball rolls past Georgetown 79-60

Heading into Sunday’s showdown vs. Georgetown (4-11,1-3 Big East) at Walsh Gymnasium, Seton Hall was looking to get back on track after suffering their first Big East loss at the hands of Villanova and seeing their four-game winning streak snapped.

The Pirates wasted no time jumping out to a double-digit advantage at 13-3 with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Seton Hall shot a sizzling 52 percent from the field while asserting command down low with 12-2 points in the paint. The Pirates also picked up 11 bench points as they led comfortably 23-8 after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, Seton Hall extended the advantage to as many as 17 points. The trio of Desiree Elmore, Barbara Johnson and Mya Jackson combined for 24 points as the Pirates led 39-23 at intermission. Displaying tenacious defense, the Pirates forced the Hoyas into committing 14 turnovers.

Head Coach Anthony Bozzella on the team’s play: “Today was much better and a lot more energy and focus. It’s not a bad Georgetown team and we played well. I thought that our defensive effort was outstanding. We switched up the starting lineup a little bit. It gave us more energy, and the kids coming off the bench did a great job.”

Fresh off a double-double and reaching a milestone in registering her 1,000th career point on Friday, senior forward Shadeen Samuels tallied 11 of her 13 points by the three-minute mark of the third quarter. Carrying a 57-40 lead into the fourth quarter, the Pirates broke the game wide open with a 12-0 spurt and cruised to the 79-60 victory.

Desiree Elmore led the team in scoring with 21 points. Mya Jackson finished with 12 points while Selena Philoxy pulled down a game-high ten rebounds. Seton Hall shot 44 percent from the field and converted 12 of 13 free throws. They dominated points in the paint (48-16) and bench points (35-16) en route to the win.

“I was proud of them. We needed to win this game badly and the kids understood that,” said Bozzella. “Our unselfishness and commitment to winning the game under any circumstances. We got to the loose ball the first five or six times on the ground.”

“We feel that we have ten kids that can start at any point and I made that clear to them. I thought Shadeen played fantastic with her effort and defense. Mya gave us some real toughness to start the game and can handle everything, and Des got back to her old self.

“We had some lapses, but the kids wanted to win. We have a good team. If we play consistent, we have a chance to be successful. If we are inconsistent, we have a chance to lose games like against Villanova, Lehigh, and Princeton.”

Next up for the Pirates (10-5, 3-1 Big East) is a two-game road trip before returning home to the Walsh Gymnasium on Friday, January 17th, against Creighton at 11:00 a.m. First up for Seton Hall is a pivotal match-up against 15th ranked DePaul (13-2, 3-0 Big East) on Friday night with tip-off set for 8:00 p.m. The Pirates conclude the trip on Sunday at Marquette with a start time of 3:00 p.m.

Bozzella on the game vs. DePaul: “We have to value the ball. They turn everyone over and got to rebound the ball well because they are first or second in the country in offensive rebounds. We have to play together. We have struggled in all three things and we got to handle some adversity during the games. Just figure out, we want to win the game more than we play. If we do, we have a good chance against anybody. If we don’t, we can lose to anyone.”