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The Seton Hall women’s basketball team lost 69-52 to the Villanova Wildcats Friday afternoon at the Pavilion. This marks the fifth consecutive loss for the Pirates, who have not won a game since their 64-59 victory against the St. John’s Red Storm on Dec. 30.
The opening minutes of the game were tightly contested, but a 14-6 run by the Wildcats had the Pirates down 19-11 at the end of the quarter. Villanova stayed out in front in the second quarter, as Seton Hall was unable to pull within seven points. The half ended with the Wildcats out in front 32-20. Villanova out-shot Seton Hall 47 percent to 31 percent in the first half, largely due to a strong shooting performance by Adrianna Hahn. She had 16 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.
Villanova continued playing well in the beginning of the third quarter, extending its lead by as much as 15. The Pirates refused to go down without a fight, and managed to pull back within seven before the end of the quarter. The teams traded blows until the Pirates were down 57-50 with 3:37 remaining. Villanova went on a dominant 12-2 run in the final minutes, eliminating any chance of a Pirate comeback. The Wildcats finished with a 17-point lead, their largest of the day, as they defeated the Pirates 69-52.
Despite losing by 17, Seton Hall out-shot Villanova 38 percent to 34 percent. The Wildcats did win the rebounding battle (45-26) and also shot better from beyond the arc (38 percent to 27 percent).
Hahn was the leading scorer in the contest with 22 points on 7-12 shooting, all from three-point range. Alex Louin added 20 points and seven rebounds while going 8-10 from the free throw line for Villanova. Kelly Jekot also had 17 points and six rebounds on the day, going 4-9 from beyond the arc.
In light of the loss, the Pirates saw a strong performance from Lubirdia Gordon. She had 20 points on 8-9 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Kaela Hilaire had 15 points and four assists in the contest, but shot just 6-17 from the field. Seton Hall’s overall leading scorer JaQuan Jackson was held to just five points on 2-12 shooting.
The Pirates fall to 8-9 on the season (1-5 in conference), while the Wildcats improve to 7-9 (3-3 in conference). Seton Hall resumes action on Sunday, Jan. 15 when the team travels to Washington, D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Matt Lapolla can be reached at matthew.lapolla@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @MatthewLapolla.
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