Game's not until Thursday but let's get a lot of opinions.

Cupcake city is over. Now the Pirates move up a weight class. But is it really that far up?

Don't get me wrong VCU is good and to date clearly better than the Pirates. But maybe Saturday we finally saw a glimpse of what this team can do.

I am going with the upset and expect a tight game.

SHU 62
VCU 61

The Pirates improve to a perfect 4-0 with a comeback for the ages in Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI – Trailing by 10 points with 4:02 remaining, the Seton Hall women's basketball team closed the game with a 14-3 run, and a pair of free-throws by Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) with 19 seconds left gave the Pirates an improbable 69-68 victory at Cincinnati on Monday.

The swarming Pirates defense forced eight Cincinnati turnovers in the final four minutes and Catalon scored seven of her season-high 20 points in the final run.

Catalon had 20 points, including a pair of three-pointers, her second of which cut The Hall's deficit to one possession with 1:41 left to play. She was also 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Graduate student Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) had a game-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting and also had team-highs of five rebounds and four steals.

THE STORY:
With the score tied at 23, The Hall went on another 8-0 run, fueled by a pair of made three-pointers by Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.), the second of which off an acrobatic cross-court pass from Eads. A pair of made free-throws by Masonius put Seton Hall on top 31-23 with 6:03 left before halftime. Cincinnati bounced back, however, and a 10-1 run gave it their first lead of the game, 33-32, with 1:16 left before the break.

The Pirates committed 12 first-half turnovers, compared to six for Cincinnati, but The Hall shot well from three-point range, 5-for-9. The result was a 35-35 tie at the break.

A turnaround jumper by Masonius gave The Hall a 42-40 lead, but the Bearcats responded with a 11-0 run to take a 51-42 lead with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. The Hall was held without a made field goal for the final 5:59 of the third quarter. Cincinnati out-scored the Pirates, 18-to-9 in the third to take a 53-44 lead into the fourth quarter.

Seton Hall scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game, 53-50. The Bearcats, however, answered with a 9-3 spurt to boost its lead back up to 62-53 with 5:19 left in the contest. Down 65-55, The Hall went on a furious run 12-0 run and the suffocating Pirates press forced eight Cincinnati turnovers in the final four minutes of the game. Trailing 68-67 with 19 seconds left, Catalon was fouled, and calmly connected on both free-throws to give The Hall the win.


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THE NUMBERS:

• Seton Hall was 22-for-53 (41.5%) from the floor for the game, while Cincinnati was 25-for-56 (44.6%). The Hall was 7-for-19 (36.8%) from three-point range, while the Bearcats were 6-for-14 (42.9%).
• Catalon had 20 points on the strength of 10-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line. She also had three steals.
• Cincinnati out-rebounded The Hall, 35-to-27, which included an 11-to-7 edge on the offensive glass and a 13-to-2 advantage in second-chance points.
• Masonius had 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with five rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks.
• Seton Hall was 18-for-23 (78.3%) from the free-throw line, while Cincinnati was 12-for-14 (85.7%).
• Wright finished with 11 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
• Seton Hall forced 23 turnovers, while the Bearcats forced 20.
• Freshman Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) had seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• The Pirates had 16 fast-break points, compared to just five for Cincinnati.

THE NOTES:

• Seton Hall improves to 4-0 on the young season, while Cincinnati drops to 3-1.
• The Hall is now 6-4 all-time against Cincinnati and has won three in a row in the series.
• Seton Hall has started the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19.
• Masonius has topped 20 points in three of her first four games as a Pirate.
• With three steals tonight, Wright moved into 13th place on Seton Hall's career list with 169.
• With five assists tonight, Wright became only the 12th player in Seton Hall history to reach 300 for her career.
• With 21 points tonight, Masonius surpassed the 900-points mark for her career.
• It's the first time this season that two Seton Hall players scored at least 20 points in a single-game.
• Seton Hall had a season-high 17 steals tonight against Cincinnati. They've collected at least 13 steals in all four games this season.
• The Hall has forced at least 23 turnovers in all four games this year.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 21 when it returns to Walsh Gymnasium to host local non-conference rival, Princeton. Tip-time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live by the Pirate Sports Network and available for FloCollege subscribers. As always, 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net will also carry the contest.

Is it more upsetting to see Mika and Joe meet with Trump, a guy 2 weeks ago who was Hitler, or professional athletes doing the Trump dance?