The Seton Hall women's basketball team was handed their first loss of the season by the Temple Owl's, 54-38, in their first road game.
This is the first game where the Pirates were held under 60 points so far this season and this game brings both teams to a 2-1 record.
Temple grabbed the lead five minutes in and despite the Pirates bringing the game within one multiple times, the Owls held on for the win.
The Pirates got off to a very slow start offensively, shooting only 5-26 from the field in the first half, but Temple's 14 early turnovers and eight personal fouls kept the Pirates close. The Hall went into the second half down three, 21-18.
Head coach Anne Donovan said how low scoring halves are definitely a concern for her team and the offense is not far alone enough.
"We don't want to be that team again," Donovan said.
Seton Hall stayed in the game by shooting 89 percent from the free throw line in the half, getting eight of their 18 points from behind the stripe. In the second half, the pirates went 0-3 from the line.
Donovan said she was proud of the way her team played defensively in the first half, although they were not producing offensively.
"As the shots continued to fall out and not in (in the second half), we lost our defensive focus," Donovan said.
The Pirates shot just 23 percent from the field and went 2-13 from behind the arc on the game.
The Hall scored the first points in the half off a drive to the basket by senior Alexandra Maseko, which shortened Temple's lead to just one. Temple responded by going on a dominant run to pull out to a 32-25 lead.
"We got frustrated," Donovan said. "That is purely where the run came from."
The 16 point lead the owls claimed with one minute remaining was the largest of the game.
Senior Brittany Morris led the Pirates with her third consecutive double digit scoring night. She 12 points and four steals in the game. Maseko came just short of the double-double putting up eight points and pulling down 9 rebounds.
Morris said the tightening up of the defense is definitely something the team needs to look to do moving forward in the season.
Center Victoria Macauly recorded a double-double for the Owls with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She also had one steal in the game.
Only one player from each team reached double digits in scoring.
The game was sloppy for both teams with 18 turnovers for the Pirates and 26 turnovers for Owls.
"Give them credit for the win," Donovan said. "But this game is on us, we just didn't take care of the ball or execute our offense."
The Pirates will continue their road trip Monday Nov. 19 in Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on Michigan at 7 p.m.
Stephanie Vedral can be reached at Stephanie.vedral@student.shu.edu.
