On Sunday Feb.1, Seton Hall women’s basketball were upset by Creighton in a BIG EAST conference game at their home turf of Walsh Gymnasium.
Entering the contest, the Pirates (15-7, 9-4 BIG EAST) were coming off a 58-52 win over Georgetown on Jan. 29, while the Blue Jays (10-12, 6-7 BIG EAST) were also coming off a dominant 81-51 victory over the St. John’s on Jan. 28. In their last meeting, The Hall defeated Creighton, 88-79, on Dec. 22 for their first win at DJ Sokol Arena in over a decade.
Senior guard Jordana Codio and junior guard Savannah Catalon were a two-headed giant for the Pirates, leading SHU’s offense against a tenacious Creighton defense. Codio led all scorers with 20 points and six rebounds, while Catalon followed closely behind with 15 points of her own.
After the game, head coach Anthony Bozzella praised Codio’s tenaciousness in the loss.
“She’s playing like an all-conference player, like I knew she would,” Bozzella said. “Not only that, her effort is through the roof.”
Codio scored the first points for the Pirates with an and-one bucket in the paint. The rest of the first quarter was marked with struggle for The Hall, with multiple turnovers in the first five minutes. The Blue Jay defense continually threw off SHU’s rhythm, holding the Pirates to only 15 points and leading by six going into the second quarter.
The Pirates could not find a moment of comfort, despite efforts from Savannah Catalon and Codio to break the team’s offensive struggles, with them not holding the lead again after the first quarter.
“[Creighton] dictated tempo from the first play of the game,” said Bozzella.
The Pirates’ offensive woes followed them early into the second quarter. Two back-to-back threes from Creighton’s Kennedy Townsend and Neleigh Gessert put the Blue Jays ahead of The Hall, 27-17. SHU’s scoring efforts began to bear fruit at the six-minute mark of the second, as two triples from Catalon and paint scoring from Codio put the Pirates within striking range by the mid-second. Creighton continued to be lethal from long-range, though, as threes from Townsend and Gessert made it difficult for the Pirates to keep up.
The Pirates were not able to claim the lead before the halftime buzzer, leaving Creighton with a 45-39 lead going into halftime.
The onslaught of threes that dominated the first half, however, came to a standstill in the second half.
“We changed the coverages on defense,” said Bozzella. “I thought we adjusted really well. They only made two threes in the second half.”
Catalon claimed the first basket of the third quarter, with a tough contested layup off the drive. SHU and Creighton began to battle in the paint, trading points at the rack for the next set of possessions. The Hall’s tooth and nail fight in the paint put the Pirates within three points of the Blue Jays lead with less than a minute to go in the third. After a strong third quarter, SHU trailed by just five going into the fourth, 60-55.
The Creighton offense pulled ahead in the first minutes of the fourth, leading the Pirates by 12. A big three from senior guard Shailyn Pinkney and two free throws from Codio gave a spark of hope to the Pirates, putting them five points away from the lead with just over three minutes to go. A steal and fastbreak layup from Codio then put The Hall down three with just a minute to go in the game.
But after SHU was unable to score with their last few chances, the Blue Jays managed to hold possession for the last 15 seconds of play, with The Hall down three and forced to foul. SHU could not close the gap, putting the Blue Jays on top 72-66 at the end of regulation.
Bozzella commented on what the Pirates should have done to win down the stretch.
“[Graduate forward Mariana [Valenzuela’s] gotta do a better job of getting open, and we’ve gotta do a better job at finding Mariana and getting her open,” Bozzella said. “And we gotta stay out of foul trouble.”
Despite the loss, Bozzella has a confident outlook on the coming games and gave Creighton their flowers for their victory over the Pirates.
“You see Creighton today, you know they’re a really good team. Everyone’s like ‘you lost.’ No. They won. There’s a difference.”
“We didn’t lose: They won,” Bozzella said. “So we’ll be back.”
With the loss, SHU’s conference record drops to 9-4 and 15-7 overall. The Pirates are scheduled to play St. John’s (17-7, 7-6 BIG EAST) next at Carnesecca Arena in New York on Feb. 7. Following the Red Storm, the Pirates will then face the Marquette Golden Eagles (14-7, 8-4 BIG EAST) once again away from home on Feb. 11.
Christian Hui is the assistant editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at christian.hui@student.shu.edu.
