PIRATES ADD GRAD TRANSFER DONNAIZHA FOUNTAIN

[Halldan1]

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women's basketball team and head coach Anthony Bozzella have announced the addition of 6'0 wing Donnaizha Fountain for the upcoming 2017-18 season. The native of Roxbury, Mass. comes to The Hall by way of Temple, where she was an All-Conference performer last season. Upon acceptance into a graduate program at Seton Hall and completion of an NCAA waiver she will have one year of eligibility remaining.

"Players of Donnaizha's caliber don't become available very often and we are extremely blessed that she is choosing to conclude what has already been a tremendous career here at Seton Hall," said Bozzella. "Her ability to score both inside and outside, rebound and defend will immediately make her an impact player in our league."

The wing averaged 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game over two seasons at Temple, also adding 95 steals and 34 blocks in 60 contests as an Owl. Over her TU career, she shot 41.8 percent from the floor, 36.1 percent from three and 76.8 percent from the line. Fountain is coming off a junior campaign that saw her average 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game to earn second team All-AAC and All-Big 5 honors. In two games last season against BIG EAST foes she recorded a pair of double-doubles, going for 17 points and 16 rebounds at Villanova on Dec. 10 before finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds against DePaul on Dec. 15.

Fountain becomes the fifth member of The Hall's incoming class for the 2017-18 season and the third newcomer inked in the current signing period. She joins incoming freshmen Kimi Evans (Jackson, N.J.) and Selena Philoxy (Brooklyn, N.Y.) along with junior college transfers Inja Butina (Zagreb, Croatia) and Nicole Jimenez (Miami, Fla.).

Career Highlights

• Spent the last three years at Temple after a season at Georgia Tech
• Owls combined to win 47 games in her two years on the court
• Was a Second Team All-Conference performer in the American Athletic Conference in 2016-17
• Also named Second Team All-Big 5
• Averaged 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game over 26 appearances as a junior
• Shot 41.5 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from 3-point range and 76.9 percent from the free throw line
• Ranked 15th in the AAC in scoring and top-10 in rebounding, steals and 3-point percentage
• After sitting out in 2014-15, scored 10.4 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 37.2 percent from 3-point range in 29 starts as a sophomore in 2015-16
• Averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as a freshman at Georgia Tech in 2013-14
• Prepped at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School where she was a three-time Greater Boston League MVP

Stay tuned to SHUPirates.com throughout the offseason for more updates on the women's basketball program.

http://www.shupirates.com/news/2017...tes-add-grad-transfer-donnaizha-fountain.aspx

 

[Vegas pj]

Welcome aboard the Pirate ship Donnizha. Good luck next season on the court and in the class room!

 

[shupat08]

Averaged 2 steals per game last season?!?

 

[SHUSource]

Temple had a very good team this year (in and out of the top 25), and Donnaizha was a big part of it, so she is certainly a strong addition.

 

[Halldan1]

Averaged 2 steals per game last season?!?

That's something Tony stressed in talking to the Trove. She's a very good defender with a high BB IQ..

 

[shupat08]

That's something Tony stressed in talking to the Trove. She's a very good defender with a high BB IQ..

I'm telling you Dan. Tony's typical man-to-man pressure defense which led to tons of steal wasn't there last year.

Neither was the typical drive and kick offense.

Last years team seemed to have The wrong parts.

 

[Halldan1]

I loved what I saw in practice before the Canadian trip but with the women playing without numbers and so many of them new I wasn't sure who was who.

After the game I went down to speak to Lauren DeFalco and pointed out the two best players in the scrimmage by far and asked who they were. When told Brown and Smith, neither of whom was going to play that season I said oh, oh.

 

[400SOAVE]

There were two major problems last season:

--First, the offensive rebounding was often virtually non-existent. Against good teams the Pirates repeatedly gave up two, three and even four rebounds in one possession.

I don't know if it was the effort or the ability or both.

--Second, their defense against the 3-point shot was abysmal, horrendous, deficient (pick any word from the thesaurus). There were many games where it was over before the end of the first quarter because the Pirates repeatedly left 3-point shooters wide open. I'm talking about Pacific Ocean wide open. Milky Way wide open. Central Park Sheep Meadow... you get the picture.

I've stated this before, but after this has happened during several games, you'd think you would stop doing it. Play man to man even if there's the potential everybody will foul out. When the Weather Girls are singing "It's Raining Threes" during every Big East game at least get an umbrella.