Seton Hall women’s basketball secured a 63-61 BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal victory over St. John’s (STJ) on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Senior guard / forward Jordana Codio set a new career-high after just doing so in the Pirates' previous game against Butler.
Codio finished the game with a career-high 35 points while shooting 13-for-23 (57%) from the field and knocking down six of nine 3-pointers. With her 35 points, Codio joins an elite SHU company, with only four Pirates ever scoring more in a single game in program history.
Scoring more than half her team’s total points, Codio kept the offense alive all night as the team prevented numerous late-game pushes from The Johnnies.
The senior guard / forward jumped-started the Pirates' offense, scoring the team’s first 10 points and finishing the quarter with 12, while leading the Red Storm 16-14.
Head coach Anthony Bozzella was able to regain some depth in his roster as guards Ari Woodard, Savannah Catalon and Shailyn Pinkney returned to play Saturday night after suffering injuries towards the end of the regular season.
The added depth at the guard position is what fueled the defensive intensity all game for the Pirates, with Catalon racking up four of the team’s 12 steals.
Applying constant ball pressure and clogging up passing lanes, SHU’s overwhelming man-to-man defense forced the Red Storm to give up 22 turnovers, with the Pirates scoring 31 points off those turnovers.
The Hall struggled to win the rebounding battle but was able to make up for it by controlling the pace with 11 fast break points and 22 points in the paint.
The Pirates lead 53-47 going into the fourth quarter with a six-point lead. Before STJ proceeded to go on a 10-5 run, cutting the lead down to one.
SHU was able to come up with three big consecutive stops following that Red Storm scoring run. Codio closed out the game with some game-sealing free throws to allow the Pirates to advance to the next round of the tournament.
When it mattered most, SHU was able to hang their hats on that defense they rely on so much, as Bozzella acknowledged postgame
“The women really focused on getting defensive stops,” Bozzella said. “We focused on defense a lot this week and it really came through for us at the end.”
Even while losing the season series to STJ, the Pirates were able to win when it mattered most. This close win over the Red Storm ends SHU’s three-game losing streak that closed out their regular season and put them back in the win column.
The Pirates are now set to face the No. 2 Villanova Wildcats on March 8 at 5 p.m. for the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals.
Jayden Bracket is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jayden.bracket@student.shu.edu.
