Seton Hall women’s basketball clinched a bye week in next month’s BIG EAST Tournament—but at the cost of their sophomore X-factor.
The Pirates secured a win in Cincinnati over the Xavier Musketeers (11-15, 4-13 BIG EAST) with a score of 64-55.
With the win, the Pirates improved their regular season record to 18-8 and 12-5 in BIG EAST conference play, and have now clinched a bye week in the BIG EAST tournament.
Although SHU escaped with a win, following a late 9-3 run at the end to secure eir the victory, two Pirates suffered injuries in the contest with only three games left in the regular season.
Sophomore Guard Ja’Khala Craft, making her fourth consecutive start of the season following her 26-point game in the Pirates’ 96-74 win overDePaul on Feb. 14. was wheeled off the court at the 7:25 mark of the second quarter with an apparent knee injury after diving for a loose ball. She did not return to the game after sustaining the injury.
Craft is not the only one that missed time in the game: Graduate forward Mariana Valenzuela also went down with a lower leg injury being carried off the court at the 6:52 mark of the third quarter. Valenzuela, luckily, made her return to the game with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with a double double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pirates backcourt duo of Senior Guard Jordana Codio and Junior Guard Savannah Catalon powered the team to a late game victory. Codio led the team, matching her career high with22 points on 83% (10-for-12) shooting from the field (10-12 ). Catalon tacked on an additional 16 points on 54% (6-for-11) shooting from the field as well.
Even with this duo’s big performance and Valenzuela returning early in the fourth quarter, the Pirates did not score until the 2:28 mark. SHU went 3-12 from the field (25%) in the quarter with all their points coming in that time span.
Xavier was able to shoot 41% from the three-point line (12-for-29), which is what kept them in the game all night, yet SHU’s defense and rebounding is what ultimately held the Musketeers off.
SHU outrebounded Xavier 40-30, with offensive rebounds being a key piece in their win. They ended the night with 13 offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points.
SHU also hounded the Musketeers on defense, forcing 22 turnovers and coming up with 11 steals. With another stellar defensive performance, they were able to score 22-points off turnovers to secure the win despite Xavier having a great shooting night.
Heading into their final three-game stretch of the season, the Pirates will first face the St. John’s Red Storm (20-9, 10-8 BIG EAST) on Feb. 22. in Walsh Gymnasium. Tip-off is set to start at 1 p.m, with the Pirates looking to finish the season off strong after clinching a BIG EAST tournament bye week.
Jayden Bracket is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jayden.bracket@student.shu.edu.
