Seton Hall women’s basketball lost their second-straight game on Saturday afternoon, when they fell to St. John’s at the Carnesecca Arena in Queens.
Seton Hall came out strong, with a driving layup by junior guard Savannah Catalon giving the Pirates 9-1 lead just a few minutes into the first quarter.
The Red Storm answered right after, as the final stretch of the opening quarter was all St. John’s. They went on a 13-to-5 run to tie the game at 14 after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, senior guard Shailyn Pinkney found junior forward Savanna Jones under the basket for an easy layup that gave Seton Hall a 22-21 lead, but St. John’s responded with a 7-0 run to take a 28-22 lead late in the half.
Just before the buzzer, Pinkney drove the length of the floor and finished through contact for an and-one opportunity. The basket cut Seton Hall’s deficit to 28-25 heading into halftime.
St. John’s opened the second half on another 7-0 run to extend their lead to 35-25. The Red Storm shot 9-for-12 from the field in the third quarter and knocked down key three-pointers.
SHU battled back and trimmed the lead to four points, however, St. John’s still led 39-35 with under four minutes left in the third. They closed the period strong and carried 49-42 into the fourth.
The Pirates made a push in the final quarter. A putback by sophomore guard Ja’Kahla Craft with just over five minutes left made it a 55-50 game. After a St. John’s three-pointer pushed the lead back to eight, freshman guard Ari Woodard stepped up. Woodard scored nine of her career-high 11 points in the fourth quarter and helped bring SHU within five points at 66-61 with just over a minute remaining.
The Pirates couldn’t find a way late to win, though, as St. John’s held on for the 67-61 victory.
Valenzuela led the Pirates with 17 points while knocking down four three-pointers. Catalon added 13 points along with three assists and three steals, while Craft, making her first collegiate start, finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four steals.
With the loss, The Hall falls to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in BIG EAST play, while St. John’s improves to 19-7 overall and 9-6 in conference action.
The Pirates have a tough road matchup at Marquette (16-7, 10-4 BIG EAST) on Feb. 11 , where they will look to get back in the win column.
Jaden Highsmith is the assistant editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jaden.highsmith@student.shu.edu.
