SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – After having nine different Pirates log at least one run, the Seton Hall softball team (8-9, 2-0 BIG EAST) claimed victory in the second game of its BIG EAST opening series against Georgetown (8-7, 0-2 BIG EAST), 10-2 in 5 innings, at Mike Sheppard Sr. Field.

How It Happened
After nearly scoring in the first inning, the Pirates offense made its presence known in the second inning. With runners on the corners and no outs, Kyra Kreuscher opened the scoring for the Pirates offense. The pitcher hit into a fielder's choice, but the throw to home plate could not catch Andrea Perez in time, allowing the Pirates go up 1-0. The second of two ensuing groundouts would score Caroline Hobbes, right before Taylor Hill was hit by a pitch and the Pirates once again had runners on the corners. After a dominating performance the day prior, Kelsey Carr stepped to the plate with two outs. Carr drove a single into the outfield, scoring Kreuscher to put the Pirates up 3-0 after two innings.

Meanwhile, in the circle, Kreuscher cruised through Hoyas batters in the opening frames. Through three innings, the junior allowed only one base runner while also striking out one. After scoring in the first inning, Kreuscher helped herself in the circle with her own hitting at the plate. With two runners on, she drove a double to right center, scoring pinch runner Jessica Muniz to extend the Seton Hall lead to 4-0. Amber Johnson made it a 5-0 Pirates lead before the end of the third inning with an RBI groundout that earned Hobbes her second run of the game.

The Hoyas found their way into the scorebook in the fourth inning, however. Georgetown knocked three hits in their first four batters, of which two of them found their way across home plate to make it a 5-2 game as the top of the frame ended.

Despite the setback on the scoreboard, the Pirates' fiery offense struck back with even more force than before. A leadoff double from Hill, followed by walks from Carr and Hannah Alexander, loaded the bases for the Pirates with no outs and forced a pitching change. After an eight-pitch at-bat, Olivia Gilbert drove in a run after being hit by a pitch, making it a 6-2 Seton Hall lead. The very next pitch hit Perez, scoring Carr and making it a 7-2 lead. Hobbes capped on the no-outs rally by reaching base on a fielder's choice and scoring Alexander in the process and growing the Pirates' advantage to six, 8-2, by the end of the fourth.

After Kreuscher shut down a potential two-out to close the top of the fifth, the Pirates stepped into the batter's box with the potential of triggering the mercy rule. Katey Brennan opened the inning with a double, with Carr and Alexander joined her on base with only one out recorded in the inning. As Gilbert stepped to the plate with a chance to end the game, the Pirates crowd grew loud. Three pitches later, she doubled into left center field, scoring two runners and securing the 10-2 victory for the Pirates.

News & Notes

• Head Coach Angie Churchillis now 9-2 against Georgetown during her Seton Hall tenure.
  • The Pirates have 11 wins in their last 13 games against Georgetown.
• The Pirates recorded their third game this season with 10+ runs scored.
  • That is more than the team had in the entire 2024 season.
• Six starters are now hitting .300 or better, with four of them having an OBP over .400.
• With three RBI today, Gilbert surpassed 20 RBI on the season (21 total)
  • This was Carr's eight game in the last nine reaching base safely
• Carr recorded her third-straight game with multiple hits.
• With two RBI today, Kreuscher recorded her first multi-RBI game.
• With two runs scored today, Brennan reached a team-high 15 runs scored on the season.
  • It was also her seventh consecutive game with a hit.

What's Next
The Pirates will close their series against Georgetown on Sunday, March 9, with their final game of the series at Essex County Mike Sheppard Sr. Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.

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SETON HALL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

GAME NOTES



SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2025

2025 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT, presented by Jeep

#3 SETON HALL (22-8) vs. #2 CREIGHTON (25-5)

UNCASVILLE, CONN. – Mohegan Sun Arena – 5:00 p.m. ET

TV: FOX

Radio: 89.5 FM WSOU or WSOU.net

Live Stats: SHUpirates.com

UNCASVILLE, CONN. – The Seton Hall women's basketball team out-scored Xavier, 17-to-2, in the fourth quarter to rally for a 48-40 victory over 11-seeded Xavier in the quarterfinals of the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament on Saturday.

For fans of offensive basketball, the first half was not for the faint of heart. The Pirates scored a season-low 15 points and was just 4-for-26 from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Hall took advantage late, however, and the Pirates' press forced 10 Musketeer turnovers in the fourth quarter. Seton Hall held Xavier without a made field goal for the entire fourth.

Graduate student Yaya Lops (Stamford, Conn.) played one of her best games in a Seton Hall uniform, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, but it was her defensive intensity down the stretch that spearheaded the Pirates' rally. Her steal and score with 1:41 left in the game gave The Hall its first lead of the game.

Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks, while Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) logged nine points and a career-high nine rebounds.

THE STORY:
Similar to last week's game against Xavier, the Pirates started very cold from the field shooting the ball. The Pirates missed their first 11 shots as Xavier built a 14-2 lead. The Pirates didn't get their first made field goal until Lops hit a layup off a pretty feed from Messiah Hunter (Hopewell, Va.) with 1:39 left in the first. The Pirates finished 1-for-15 from the field in the first 10 minutes and were down 14-5 entering the second quarter.

Seton Hall wasn't much better in the second quarter and finished with a season-low 15 points in the first half. The Pirates were 4-for-26 from the floor in the first 20 minutes and trailed by 10 at the break.

Trailing 38-29 with 42 seconds left in the third, the Pirates went on a 9-0 run, including the first seven points of the fourth quarter to tie the game, 38-38, with 5:29 left. After a pair of made Xavier free throws put the Musketeers back in front, two Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) free throws tied the game again with 2:47 remaining. With 1:41 to go, Lops intercepted an inbound pass and raced in for a layup to give the Pirates their first lead of the game, 42-40. Six made free-throws in the final minute in a half iced the game for Seton Hall.

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THE NUMBERS:

• Seton Hall was 13-for-53 (24.5%) from the floor for the game, while Xavier was 16-for-43 (37.2%). The Hall was 1-for-10 (10.0%) from three-point range, while the Musketeers were 6-for-19 (31.6%).
• Lops had 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds and three steals
• The Hall out-rebounded Xavier, 34-to-31, which included a 12-to-2 edge on the offensive glass and a 6-to-0 advantage in second-chance points.
• Masonius tallied 12 points with eight rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks.
• Seton Hall was 21-for-26 (80.8%) from the free-throw line, while Xavier was 2-for-4 (50.0%).
• Catalon had nine points and a career-high nine rebounds.
• Seton Hall forced 28 turnovers, while the Musketeers forced 15. The Hall had a 24-to-6 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
• Eads finished with 10 points and two steals.

THE NOTES:

• Seton Hall improves to 22-8 overall and advances to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, while Xavier falls 7-24 and is eliminated from the tournament.
• Seton Hall improves to 24-3 all-time against the Musketeers and has won 14 straight games in the series.
• For the fifth time in the last six years, The Hall won its first game at the BIG EAST Tournament.
• The Pirates collected at least 10 steals for the 20th time this season.
• It's the 24th time in 30 games that the Pirates have forced more turnovers than their opponent.
• Seton Hall forced at least 20 turnovers today for the 16th time this season.
• With a steals today Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) moved into a tie with former Pirate Leslie Chavies for sixth place on Seton Hall's career list with 212.
• Xavier is Seton Hall's 16th opponent held to 55 points or fewer this season. The Pirates are a perfect 16-0 in those games.
• Xavier's two points in the fourth quarter are the second-fewest by a Seton Hall opponent in a single-quarter in program history.
• Xavier's 40 points are the second-fewest scored by a Seton Hall opponent in a BIG EAST Tournament game.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will advance to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals on Sunday and face No. 2 Creighton at 5:00 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on FOX. As always, 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net will also carry the contest.

Storrs, Conn. — Prince Aligbe had a team-high 15 points with two assists and two steals and Garwey Dual finished with 12 points and four assists in the Seton Hall men's basketball team's 81-50 loss at UConn Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates will next turn their attention to the BIG EAST Tournament as they'll face Villanova in the first round at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday inside Madison Square Garden. The matchup will air on Peacock.

How It Happened

Looking to avenge their overtime loss to the Pirates on Feb. 15 at Prudential Center, the Huskies turned Seton Hall over on three of its first five possessions and quickly jumped out to a 13-3 lead.

UConn pushed its lead to 18-3 with 12:42 left before halftime before Isaiah Coleman drove to the basket for a layup and Garwey Dual converted his second of three first half three pointers that cut the Pirates' deficit to 12, 20-8. The Hall went on a 7-0 run that made it a 12-point game once again with 6:37 left in the first half but UConn was able to expand its lead to 21, 43-22 at the end of the first half.

A Coleman jumper and dunk from Godswill Erheriene got the Pirates within 21 of the Huskies but it would be as close as they could get for the rest of the game. The Hall would go on to outscore UConn 18-6 over the final nine minutes of the contest but falling behind so much so early proved to be too costly for the Pirates.

News & Notes

• UConn now leads the all-time series 50-24.
• The Pirates and Huskies have split the last six meetings with both teams winning on their home courts.
• Seton Hall won the turnover battle, forcing 18 UConn turnovers while coughing up 13 turnovers itself.
• Seton Hall has forced 15 or more turnovers in five of its last seven games and at least 14 turnovers in 10 of its last 11 contests.
• Coleman finished with 10 points, giving him 21 double-figure scoring games this season and 29 in his career.
• Coleman is up to 622 points in his career, moving him past Kevin Foley for 103rd on Seton Hall's all-time scoring list.
• Dual now has four double-figure scoring games and five in his career.

By Colin Rajala

The highlight of Seton Hall’s season, so far, came Saturday, February 15 at the Prudential Center when the Pirates came back from seven points in the final minute of regulation and five points in overtime to upset Connecticut 69-68 for its fourth consecutive home victory over the Huskies.

Coincidentally, the low light of Seton Hall’s season may have come Saturday afternoon at Connecticut when the Huskies jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first three minutes and thirty seconds of the game, led by 21 at halftime and by as much as 43 in the second half en route to a decisive 81-50 victory in front of 10,299 fans in Gampel Pavilion.

The loss was Seton Hall’s sixth straight, bringing their season total up to 24, which set a program record and cemented the Pirates first last place finish in the Big East standings since 1996-1997, when they shared the basement with Rutgers, and first outright last place conference finish since the 1985 season.

UConn (22-9, 14-6) set the tone early as three different players scored in the paint on the team’s first four possessions to take a 10-3 lead less than three minutes into the game, including two layups and a dunk from Samson Johnson, before a three-pointer from Solo Ball gave the Huskies a double-figure lead, 13-3, with 16:33 to go in the first half.

Seton Hall (7-24, 2-18) would not score its second field goal of the first half until the 12:34 mark when Isaiah Coleman converted a layup to make the score 18-5.

The Pirates’ 18th point came with just under four minutes to go in the opening half when Emmanuel Okorafor slammed home the dish from Dylan Addae-Wusu to close the score to 34-18 and prompt a timeout from Connecticut Head Coach and Seton Hall alum Danny Hurley.

Connecticut closed the first half on a 9-4 run that saw three different players score to enter the half up 43-22.

Garwey Dual was the lone bright spot for Seton Hall in the first half as he scored 10 of his team-leading 12 points, shooting a perfect 3/3 from long distance.

The Pirates shot 8/26 (30.7%) from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers, while Connecticut shot 15/26 (57.7%) with nine assists.

Prince Aligbe and Isaiah Coleman were the only other Pirates to finish in double figures for the game with Aligbe tallying 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Coleman recorded 10 points, three rebounds and a steal.

Solo Ball led all scorers with 17 points, Johnson recorded 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Alex Karaban recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists for the Huskies, who also got 10 points apiece from Jaylin Stewart and Aidan Mahaney off the bench.

Seton Hall now sets its sights on the Big East Tournament, where it will have sixth-seeded Villanova (18-13, 11-9) Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden in the vaunted last game with tip scheduled for 9 p.m. The Wildcats swept the season series over the Pirates, winning 79-67 at home in mid-December and coming back from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Seton Hall 59-54 at the Prudential Center on Feb. 26.

Now time to recruit!