Pirates Roll St. John's to Clinch BIG EAST Bye, 66-57 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Sophomore Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) had a game-high 19 points and the Seton Hall women's basketball team never trailed in a 66-57 victory at St. Jo...
27. Seton Hall 66, St. John's 57 (F) WBB Box Score - Seton Hall University Athletics
27. Seton Hall 66, St. John's 57 (F) WBB Box Score
QUEENS, N.Y. – Sophomore Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) had a game-high 19 points and the Seton Hall women's basketball team never trailed in a 66-57 victory at St. John's on Sunday. The victory clinches a first-round by for the Pirates in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament.
Seton Hall opened the third quarter with a 16-2 run and never looked back. The Pirates' lead grew to as many as 21 points before St. John's cut into it late.
The Pirates' sixth BIG EAST road victory of the season means they won't have to play in the first round on Friday, March 7 at the BIG EAST Tournament. The Hall can do no worse than the No. 5 seed. If it wins its final two games, it'll get the No. 3 seed and avoid BIG EAST Champion UConn until the title game.
Catalon had 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Yaya Lops (Stamford, Conn.) also had 16 points coupled with three rebounds and four blocked shots.
THE STORY:
Seton Hall's defense was stellar early, with St. John's making just one of its first eight shots. Catalon caught fire early, scoring eight of her 19 points in the first 10 minutes as Seton Hall took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter.
Leading 18-14, The Hall went on a 6-0 burst, and a three-pointer by Eads gave the Pirates a 24-14 advantage and forced St. John's to take a timeout with 5:31 left before halftime. St. John's responded with an 8-0 spurt of their own, and cut Seton Hall's lead to 24-22 with 1:57 before the break. Kaydan Lawson (Cleveland, Ohio) hit a three-pointer with three seconds left before halftime to send Seton Hall into the locker room with a 27-22 advantage.
Seton Hall opened the second half with three-pointers on its first three possessions, Lops, Catalon and Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) connected to extend its lead to 36-22 and force another St. John's timeout with 7:30 left in the third. The Pirates held St. John's off the scoreboard for the first 3:54 of the third quarter, and in that time, went on a 12-0 run to give them a commanding 39-22 lead. St. John's went on a 10-2 run late in the quarter, but the Pirates still carried a 15-point lead going into the fourth.
In the fourth, the Pirates' lead was never seriously threatened. St. John's made a modest run late, but The Hall's lead never got below the nine-point final margin.
THE NUMBERS:
- Seton Hall was 26-for-61 (42.6%) from the floor for the game, while St. John's was 19-for-48 (39.6%). The Hall was 8-for-23 (34.8%) from three-point range, while the Red Storm were 5-for-18 (27.8%).
- Catalon finished with game-high 19 points on 6-for-17 shooting, a team-best six rebounds and three assists.
- St. John's out-rebounded The Hall, 36-to-30. Offensive rebounds were even at 13 apiece.
- Lops tallied 16 points on an efficient 7-for-11 shooting to go with three rebounds and four blocks.
- Seton Hall was 6-for-9 (66.7%) from the free-throw line, while St. John's was 14-for-16 (87.5%).
- Masonius had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- Seton Hall forced 18 turnovers, while the Red Storm forced 10. The Hall had a 19-to-7 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
- Lawson finished with eight points and two rebounds.
- Seton Hall improves to 19-8 overall and 11-5 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's falls to 14-13 overall and 4-12 in conference play.
- The victory officially clinches a first-round bye for Seton Hall at the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament. The Pirates are guaranteed no worse than a No. 5 seed and will begin play at the tournament in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 8.
- The Hall is now 41-50 all-time against the Red Storm and sweeps the 2025 season series. Furthermore, the Pirates have now won eight of the last 10 meetings with St. John's.
- Seton Hall's win is its sixth BIG EAST road victory of the season, its most since the 2020-21 season.
- It's the 22nd time in 27 games that the Pirates have forced more turnovers than their opponent.
- The Pirates improve to 16-0 when making more field goals than their opponent.
- With 16 points today, Lops surpassed the 1,100-points mark for her career.
Seton Hall will return to action on Thursday, February 27 when it returns to historic Walsh Gymnasium for Senior Night. The Pirates will host DePaul with a tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed by the BIG EAST Digital Network and available for FloCollege subscribers. As always, 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net will also carry the contest.
