Espinoza-Hunter, Pirates Ground Mountain Hawks, 87-77 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Graduate Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) collected team-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds and junior Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) added 20 poi...
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Graduate Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) collected team-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds and junior Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) added 20 points as the Seton Hall women's basketball team defeated Lehigh, 87-77, in Walsh Gym on Tuesday.
Trailing after one quarter, the Pirates began the second on an 8-0 run and never trailed again, outscoring Lehigh 33-to-16 in the game-defining quarter.
Espinoza-Hunter recorded her second career double-double with 22 points on the strength of four made three-pointers to go with 10 points and two assists. Park-Lane had 20 points and a season-high seven assists.
All five of Seton Hall's starters finished in double figures in scoring. In addition to Espinoza-Hunter and Park-Lane, Sidney Cooks (Kenosha, Wis.) had 14 points, Mya Jackson (Wilmington, Ohio) had 13 points and Katie Armstrong (Collegeville, Pa.) had 10 points.
The Story:
Lehigh connected on 5-of-13 three-point attempts in the first quarter as they built a 19-16 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Pirates' defense however, limited the Mountain Hawks to just four made three-pointers for the remainder of the game.
To open the second quarter, The Hall scored the first eight points, and stretched their run to 14-2 on a layup by Sidney Cooks with 6:48 left to play before halftime. The Pirates continued their pressure and a driving layup by Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) with just 17 seconds left in the half gave them a commanding 49-35 lead at the break.
Armstrong drained a three-pointer on the Pirates' first possession of the second half, and Park-Lane followed with a steal and score to give The Hall its largest lead of the game, 54-35, with 8:18 left in the third quarter. Lehigh, however, didn't fold, and methodically chipped away at their deficit, cutting their deficit to just five points, 68-63, as the third quarter drew to a close.
A pair of free-throws by Lehigh's Frannie Hottinger cut the Mountain Hawks' deficit to just four points, 79-75, with only 4:20 left in the contest, but Espinoza-Hunter responded with a huge three-pointer to boost The Hall's lead back to seven. Three minutes later, Espinoza-Hunter delivered another with just 38 seconds left to put the game away.
Inside the Numbers:
- Seton Hall was 32-for-68 (47.1%) from the floor for the game, while Lehigh was 29-for-67 (43.3%). The Hall was 10-for-24 (41.7%) from three-point range, while the Mountain Hawks were 9-for-30 (30.0%).
- Espinoza-Hunter had a double-double with game-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. She was 4-for-8 from three-point range.
- The Hall out-rebounded Lehigh, 43-to-35, which included a 13-to-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
- Park-Lane finished with 20 points to go with a season-high seven assists and only one turnover. She also had three rebounds and two steals.
- Seton Hall was 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the free-throw line, while Lehigh was 10-for-13 (76.9%).
- Cooks had 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with five rebounds and two assists.
- Both teams committed only 10 turnovers.
- Jackson had 13 points on the strength of three made three-pointers to go with three rebounds and two steals.
- Armstrong finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
- Seton Hall improves to 2-1 on the young season, while Lehigh drops to 2-1.
- The Hall is now 6-2 all-time against the Mountain Hawks and avenges a loss to them in 2019.
- The Pirates improve to 92-37 in Walsh Gym during the Bozzella era and 50-8 in Walsh against non-conference teams.
- With 20 points today, Park-Lane reached the 600-mark for her career.
- With seven assists today, Park-Lane moved past former Pirates Cecilia Linqvist and Veronica Sims into 16th place on Seton Hall's career list.
- Espinoza-Hunter's 20-point game is her third of the season and the 10th in 20 games so far as a Pirate.
- With three made three-pointers today, Jackson moved past former Pirate Sandy Mitchell into 12th place on the Pirates' career list.
- With 10 rebounds today, Espinoza-Hunter reached the 200-mark for her career.
- Tonight, Seton Hall set season-highs for points (87), rebounds (43), assists (15), three-pointers made (10) and field goal percentage (.471).
- Park-Lane has now scored in double-figures in 11 straight games dating back to last year. Espinoza-Hunter has done so in 10 straight games.
- Seton Hall has had two players score at least 20 points in all three games so far this season.
Seton Hall will return to action on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 25 when it begins play at the Cancun Challenge. The Hall will face No. 8 Iowa at 4:00 p.m. ET at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico. The contest will be available to subscribers on FloSports.
