GAME NOTES
CONTACT: MATT SWEENEY
DATE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2024
E-MAIL: MATTHEW.SWEENEY@SHU.EDU
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE: 973-761-9493; CELL: 973-943-8434
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2024
ACRISURE HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL
SETON HALL (4-1) vs. #6 USC (4-1)
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. – Acrisure Arena – 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: truTV
Radio: 89.5 FM WSOU or WSOU.net
Live Stats: SHUpirates.com
THE GAME
Seton Hall will return to action on Wednesday, November 27 when it travels to Palm Springs, Calif. for the Acrisure Holiday Invitational. The Pirates will face No. 3 USC at 7:00 p.m. ET.
MEDIA
The game will be televised by truTV. As usual, the game will also be available over the airwaves at 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net. Mike Federico and Spencer Gonzalez will describe the action on the radio. Live stats will also be available.
WSOU is also airing a post-game “Hall Line” show following its women’s basketball games. Be sure to tune in after the final buzzer.
LAST GAME
Graduate student Yaya Lops (Stamford, Conn.) scored a season-high 20 points, but the Pirates suffered their first loss of the season, 78-75, to Princeton in Walsh Gym on Thursday.
The Pirates played well enough to win, shooting an impressive 47.5 percent from the floor and forcing 21 turnovers, compared to committing just eight. Princeton, however, shot a blistering 61.7 percent for the game including 12-for-19 (.632) from three-point range, and the Pirates simply couldn’t keep up. The Tigers’ field goal percentage is the highest by a Seton Hall opponent since Villanova shot 64.4 percent on Feb. 11, 2023.
Lops had her best game in a Seton Hall uniform, finishing with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-7 from three-point range, to go with six rebounds. Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.), Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) and Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) also scored in double-figures for The Hall. Graduate student Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) had six points to go with eight assists, only one turnover and four steals.
Seton Hall All-Time vs. the Women of Troy: USC leads, 4-0
Last Meeting:
#8 USC 64, Seton Hall 54 (F) – November 20, 2023 (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)
AGAINST USC
Seton Hall and USC will play for only the fifth time in history on Wednesday with the Women of Troy having won all four prior meetings. All four contests have been held on neutral sites with USC defeating the Pirates last season, 64-54, at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.
SCOUTING USC
USC is coming off a tremendous 2023-24 campaign, which featured a 29-6 final record, a Pac-12 Conference championship and a run to the NCAA Regional Finals. USC defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Kansas and Baylor before falling to Connecticut, 80-73, for the right to play in the Final Four.
Juju Watkins was named National Freshman of the Year, Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year and received All-American honors.
This year, the Women of Troy were picked to win the 18-team Big 10 Conference, according to the preseason coaches’ poll. Four of USC’s starting five were named to the watch list for the national award at their respective positions with Watkins, Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen landing on the watch list for the Wooden Award. Watkins is also the Big 10 Preseason Player of the Year.
The Women of Troy enter Wednesday’s contest as the No. 6 ranked team in the country with a 4-1 record. Most recently, USC fell to No. 6 Notre Dame, 74-61, on Saturday. Watkins is currently averaging 22.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. She scored 24 points against Irish.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall will return to action after the Thanksgiving holiday when it hosts San Francisco in historic Walsh Gymnasium on Monday, Dec. 2. Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed by the Pirate Sports Network and available for FloCollege subscribers. 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net will also carry the game.
