In Sunday’s game at Walsh Gymnasium, Seton Hall women’s basketball found itself in a close contest with conference rival Xavier. Through three quarters of play, the Pirates led over a Musketeers team that, despite trailing for most of the game, just refused to go away.
But then the Pirates, led by junior guard Savannah Catalon, delivered their best fourth quarter performance of the season.
“We are all thankful that she’s a Pirate,” SHU head coach Anthony Bozzella said about Catalon after the game. “But each day I say an extra, ‘Thank you’—[because] she’s a winner.”
SHU (now 9-4, 3-1 in the BIG EAST) defeated the Xavier University Musketeers, 75-55, on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange.
Leading 49-43 at the end of the third quarter, the Pirates opened the fourth on a 19-2 run that extended that initial lead to as much as 23 points. They led 68-45 with just four minutes left and never looked back, outscoring the Musketeers 26-12 with shooting splits of 54.5% from the field, 75% from three, and 91.7% from the line.
During the Pirates’ 19-2 run to open the quarter, Catalon had a scoring run of her own. From 5:33 to 4:05, the Mansfield, Texas native scored nine consecutive points and produced highlight after highlight. Her run started with a left-handed layup through contact after a steal and outlet pass from fellow guard Shailyn Pinkney. That play was then followed by a wing three-pointer plus the foul that generated five points in a single possession for the Pirates (the foul was a “separate play” that earned Catalon two free throws, said one of the head referees).
Catalon was even more impressive in the third quarter, scoring ten points while shooting 3-for-5 (60%) from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from deep. Named to the BIG EAST Weekly honor roll twice already this season, Catalon finished the game with a season- and game-high 24 points—19 of which were scored in the second half alone.
“She’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached,” Bozzella also said about Catalon after the game. “No one tries harder, no one wants to win more, [and] no one’s a better human being.”
Also impressive in the second-half was senior forward Mariana Valenzuela. Before the break, the Florida State transfer was relatively quiet, making 2-of-4 (50%) attempts from deep to coach Bozzella’s distaste.
“I told Mariana [at halftime], ‘C'mon, you took four shots in the first half, they were all three-pointers—let’s go!’” Bozzella said. “I told her to get her rear end under the basket. You gotta rebound, and you gotta score some baskets inside….She can’t just chill out on the perimeter—yeah, she’s one of the best three-point shooters I’ve ever coached—but get inside too.”
Valenzuela responded accordingly to her coach’s halftime concerns, as she scored 10 points in the second half, seven of which came in the paint. She also grabbed eight rebounds after halftime, with a season-high four of them on the offensive glass. Valenzuela finished the game with 16 points and ten rebounds for her second career double-double (her last came against Butler on Dec. 14, in a game during which she dropped a season- and career-high 25 points).
Guards Ja’Kahla Craft and Jordana Codio were also good in this one, both scoring 12 points on efficient shooting. Bozzella said the win would not have been possible without their contributions and energy off the bench.
But the X-factor for SHU was Pinkney, although the box score might suggest otherwise. After scoring a season- and career-high 21 points off the bench in the Pirates’ last game against Creighton, Pinkney had just one point against Xavier, but still had a positive plus/minus of +12. Bozzella praised Pinkney after the game, who he said is one of “seven starters” (along with Codio) that the team has at their disposal.
“People look at, ‘Oh, she didn’t have a good game today, 21 last game’—she had a really good game,” Bozzella said about Pinkney. “She changed the whole complexity [of the game]: the physicalness, the toughness, not getting screened, diving on the floor, dropping and getting a steal, all those things change the course of the game….And that’s why she’s a great team player, and that’s why she’s a great Seton Hall player, so I’m very proud of her for that.”
Sophomore guard Jada Eads likewise had a positive plus/minus of +18 in the game despite scoring just one point. That impact came from her five rebounds and team-high seven assists—all while playing on an ankle she injured last game, then tweaked again early in the second-half of this one. Bozzella praised Eads, who shares the Pirates’ backcourt with Catalon.
“She’s a super tough kid,” Bozzella said about Eads. “She wants to win. Those two in the backcourt, I’m not taking anyone in the country over them—I really mean that.”
“I know every game they’re gonna give it their all, every day in practice they give it their all,” he added. “They want to win, we want to win, they want me and my staff to make them the best players I can, and they did a great job with that, and that’s why I love them—I really do,”
Bozzella extended his praise to the team at large, who has shown signs of maturity with each game this season.
“I give these kids credit,” Bozzella said. “They never put their head down, they try to get better, and they take accountability, and I think that says a lot about them.”
The Pirates will return to Walsh Gymnasium on Dec. 31, as they host the (8-4, 1-2 in the BIG EAST) Georgetown University Bulldogs with their eyes on ringing in the new year with their tenth win of the season.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
