On Sunday afternoon, the women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since 2016, as Seton Hall defeated DePaul, 84-73. The victory improves the Pirates to 12-6 and 4-3 in conference play.
Shadeen Samuels led the team with 18 points, while Inja Butina, Desiree Elmore, and Nicole Jimenez each added 15 points.
The first quarter belonged to DePaul, as they led for a majority of the time. The Pirates only held one lead at the start of the game on behalf of a three-pointer from Victoria Cardaci, which put them up 3-2.
The Pirates quickly lost the lead, and, at one point, the Blue Demons extended their advantage to 10. Although the Blue Demons had control of the game, Cardaci continued to impress by scoring two more three-pointers. At the end of the first quarter, the Pirates picked up their game and went on a 6-0 run and only trailed 21-14.
To start the second quarter, DePaul scored first and extended its lead to 24-15 before Seton Hall began to make a comeback. Jimenez scored 10 of her 15 points in the second quarter, while Elmore and Selena Philoxy had four points each.
A layup from Elmore tied the game at 35 with under a minute to play in the half. Samuels then secured the lead for the Pirates after making two free throws with 15 seconds left on the clock.
In the third quarter, Cardaci picked up her fourth three-pointer of the game and extended the Pirates’ lead to 42-37. Her play played a large part in pushing Seton Hall’s lead to five heading into the final frame.
The Pirates started the fourth quarter by growing their lead by two from a Samuels layup. Samuels, who had a quiet first half, exploded offensively in the last quarter, racking up nine points. Butina also went on to have a prolific quarter, scoring 10 of her 15 points, eight which came from free throws.
The Pirates will look to ride this momentum against Villanova on Jan. 25. Gametime at Walsh Gymnasium is 7 p.m.
Brittany Tomore can be reached at Brittany.tomore@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @BrittTomore.
