The Bozellas Hosts Creighton On Friday Night

[Halldan1]

The Pirates took an 86-82 decision in Omaha earlier this season

Feb. 25, 2016

Game 28 // Home Game 13 // BIG EAST Game 17
Seton Hall (20-7, 10-6 BIG EAST) vs. Creighton (13-15, 7-9 BIG EAST)
Date Friday, Feb. 26 // 7:00 p.m (ET)
Location Walsh Gymnasium (1,655) // South Orange, N.J.
Watch BEDN (Jon Schaeffer, David Gass, Cayleigh Griffin) // FOX Sports GO
Links Live Stats | Radio (WSOU, 89.5 FM) | @SHUWBB on Twitter | TICKETS
Notes Media Central | Seton Hall Notes | Creighton Notes

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Seton Hall women's basketball team (20-7, 10-6 BIG EAST) looks to close strong when it hosts Creighton (13-15, 7-9) for the penultimate game of the season at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates, winners of three-straight, are tied for second in the BIG EAST standings heading into the final weekend of league action. The Hall and the Bluejays will square off on Friday night at 7 p.m. in a contest available on the BIG EAST Digital Network and FOX Sports GO app. Tickets are available HERE and Friday night's contest is presented by BURG.

ALL-TIME WITH THE BLUEJAYS
The Pirates are 2-3 all-time against Creighton, with each meeting coming in the last three seasons since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST
• The Hall won an 86-82 decision in Omaha on Dec. 31 earlier this season
• In that meeting, Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) poured in 27 points, knocking down 4-of-5 from 3-point range
• Shakena Richardson (Neptune, N.J.) added 18 points and dished out seven assists along with three steals
• The Pirates and Bluejays split last season’s series, with each team winning the road leg of the two-game set
• The Hall last hosted Creighton on Feb. 8, 2015 - an 81-73 victory for CU at Walsh Gym that snapped SHU’s program-record 20-game home winning streak

LAST TIME OUT - FEB. 21 AT XAVIER - SHU 72, XU 67
• The Pirates led by as many as 10 in the third quarter and survived a late XU push that saw the Musketeers tie the contest in the fourth quarter
• Aleesha Powell (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Pirates with 21 points and shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range
• Richardson-Smith scored 17 points, all in the second half, including four clutch points in the final minutes to help seal the victory
• Tiffany Jones (New York, N.Y.) notched her seventh double-double of the season and second-straight with 14 points and 16 rebounds off the bench - tying her career-high on the glass
• The Pirates blocked nine shots compared to one for the Musketeers
• SHU picked up the victory despite being out-rebounded, out-shot, and out-scored in the paint
• Lubirdia Gordon (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) blocked six shots - tying her career-high and ranking fourth in a single-game in program history
• The Pirates improved to 6-0 all-time against Xavier, but Sunday was the first decision in the series decided by single-digits

SETON HALL TIP-INS
- Seton Hall is 20-7 and 10-6 in BIG EAST play after a pair of road wins at Butler and Xavier
- The Hall currently slots in tied for second in the BIG EAST standings, deadlocked with Villanova and St. John’s
- Richardson-Smith is second in the BIG EAST in scoring in overall games (19.7 ppg) and first in conference games (22.4) - she became the all-time leading scorer in program history on Feb. 14 vs. Villanova
- Richardson ranks second in the BIG EAST and top-35 nationally with 5.5 assists per game
- The Hall ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (42.6 percent) and second in field goal percentage defense (37.9)
- SHU won its 20th game on Sunday at XU, marking the third-straight year under Anthony Bozzella that The Hall has won at least 20 contests - marking only the second time in SHU history (1977-81)

BLUEJAY BULLETS
• Creighton visits South Orange with a 13-15 record on the year and a 7-9 mark in BIG EAST action
• The Bluejays split home games against Marquette and DePaul last weekend
• Audrey Faber leads CU with 13.4 points per game and shoots 41.7 percent from 3-point range
• MC McGrory adds 11.6 per outing, while Jade Owens scores 6.7 a night with team-highs of 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest
• As a team Creighton shoots 36.8 percent from 3-point range, best in the BIG EAST
• The Bluejays also lead the league in free throw percentage (78.6 percent), which ranks fourth nationally

Following the contest against Creighton, The Hall returns to Walsh on Sunday evening for Senior Day against Providence. Prior to the match-up the Pirates will honor its senior class of Tiffany Jones, Jordan Mosley, Aleesha Powell, Shakena Richardson and Tabatha Richardson-Smith.

The Last Meeting
Seton Hall 86
Creighton 82
December 31, 2015
Omaha, Neb.

No. 23 Pirates Take 86-82 Victory In Wild New Year's Eve Tilt At Creighton

The No. 23 Seton Hall women's basketball team jumped out to a big lead early and held on to survive a furious rally late in an 86-82 victory at Creighton on Thursday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena. The Pirates (12-1, 2-0 BIG EAST) open BIG EAST play with back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since 2000-01 after the triumph over the Bluejays (6-8, 0-2 BIG EAST).

Recap | Box Score
Pirate Women's Basketball Home

 

[Vegas pj]

SH on a 14-0 run to lead 36-22 with 2:02 left in the second half.

 

[Vegas pj]

40-28 at half. SH with a costly TO and Jays hit jumper to close out half. Keep it going Ladies.

 

[TheBluePirate]

They win. Kuderer back, Byrne still not back, team played three good quarters.

 

[shupat08]

Great seeing @TheBluePirate again. Good to be in Walsh after 2 hard fought road wins. Now a hard fought home win. Tony was pumped this entire game and even more so when the game was sealed. Major fist pump and "that's how you do it!" shout.

3 solid quarters. 4th quarter was a bit scary. But CU never gives up, plays solid concept D and boy they can shoot.

Lundberg starting to step up as the stretch 4, Jordan Mosley stepped up on D and added 7 points I believe. TT Smith also had a solid game. Wish Byrne was healthy. She still looks a bit out of it.

 

[shupat08]

Aleesha had a slow game on Offense tonight. I noticed many possessions when either Faber or Lamberty were guarding her. They both have quite a size advantage on Aleesha, CU did a good job shutting down her outside game. Although she did hit a timely corner 3.

 

[Halldan1]

Pirates Finish Sweep Of Creighton With 77-71 Victory On Friday Night

Tabatha Richardson-Smith had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the win

Richardson-Smith led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds

Feb. 26, 2016

Final Stats

Box Score

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women’s basketball team used a huge second quarter surge and clutch play down the stretch to take down Creighton, 77-71, on Friday night at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates (21-7, 11-6 BIG EAST) hold in a tie for second-place in the conference standings with the victory and complete a regular season sweep of the Bluejays (13-16, 7-11 BIG EAST) for the first time in three seasons as conference-mates.

Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) led The Hall with a huge 22-point, 13-rebound double-double in the triumph, while Tiffany Jones (New York, N.Y.) barely missed doubling up as well with 13 points and nine rebounds in addition to a pair of blocks. The Hall held CU to under 40 percent shooting from the floor and out-rebounded the Bluejays 41-35 on the night.

The contest was deadlocked after a quarter before the Pirates reeled off a huge 18-0 run midway through the second quarter to swell their lead to double-digits. Creighton stormed back with a big second half and got as close as one late in regulation, but the Pirates were able to finish strong and seal the victory.

Head Coach Anthony Bozzella on the result

“I’m really proud of the way we played tonight against a really good, well-coached Creighton team. We handled a bit of adversity but Aleesha Powell had the play of the night down the stretch to draw a huge foul and make her free throws.”

Turning Point

After a Lauren Works 3-pointer pulled CU within one at 67-66 with 4:29 to play, the Bluejays had the ball with the chance to go ahead for the first time since the first quarter. Instead Claire Lundberg (Andover, Minn.) came up with a block on a Jade Owens lay-up and on the other end Powell (Philadelphia, Pa.) drew a foul before knocking down two shots to stretch the lead back to three. After the teams traded empty possessions, Shakena Richardson (Neptune, N.J.) worked her way to the line and drilled a pair to push the lead back to five with under two minutes to play. Richardson then iced the contest in the final 30 seconds when she found Jones on a perfect feed for an easy lay-in to seal the win.

Inside The Numbers

The Pirates shot 42.9 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from 3-point range compared to 39.7 and 38.7 for Creighton

The Hall held a 41-35 rebounding edge led by a combined 22 boards from Jones and Richardson-Smith

Seton Hall out-scored Creighton 19-12 in bench points, led by seven points from Jordan Mosley and six each from Claire Lundberg and LaTecia Smith

The Pirates held a 24-18 advantage in points in the paint and a 13-10 edge in second-chance points

The Hall won the turnover battle, 11-10

News and Notes

Richardson-Smith recorded her fourth double-double of the season and the 13th of her career

Over her last three games Tiffany Jones is averaging 14.3 points and 13.0 rebounds

The Hall improves to 3-3 all-time against Creighton with its first-ever win over the Bluejays in South Orange

The Pirates are now 10-3 at home in 2016 and have won double-digit home contests in all three seasons under Bozzella

Up Next

The Pirates close the regular season on Sunday at 6 p.m. when they host Providence at Walsh Gym. Prior to the contest The Hall will honor its senior class of Jones, Mosley, Powell, Richardson and Richardson-Smith.

Pirate Women's Basketball Home

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/022616aaa.html

 

[400SOAVE]

--It was a win. A win is a win. That's really the bottom line. But it was not an overall strong win.

They completely blew a huge lead at home. The great D that helped to build that lead became Swiss cheese. And, as always, they leave 3-point shooters wide open after collapsing the D to help inside.



--TRS had another excellent all-around game with 22 points and 13 rebounds. She took a very reasonable 14 shots and played strong D.

However, she continues to force it under the basket in heavy traffic. It resulted in missed layups and she got picked clean about three times. She's a great driver. Why can't she pull up for the 5-10 footer? Mix it up. Keep the D guessing. As I always say, a made two is better than a missed three.

--The Pirates had only nine assists to Creighton's 18. The Pirates need more motion, and the TRS and Richardson need to pass more. They are both really great passers.

--Jones seems to have snapped out of her funk. She simply seems more focused. Her body language is much better. She almost got another double-double with 13/9.

--Gordon must focus and step it up. It's the time of year to dig deep. She's better than two points and three rebounds.

--It's such a bonus for the Pirates if Lundberg is actually emerging. Every great team has a deep bench of players who contribute in many ways. Mosley also gave them 20 strong minutes, and Kuderer is back.

--The Pirates are still in a 3-way tie for second place. Unless there's an upset on Sunday, SHU will be the #4 seed with a first round bye.

--If they make it to the second round, they will likely face DePaul. They can beat them IF they cease and desist the collapse defense that leads to wide open threes time after time.


Go Pirates!

 

[400SOAVE]

Incidentally, I've seen Jose Rebimbas at the last two or three women's games.

Is he working with the team? I think I saw that he has worked as a kind of consultant.

That would be great. Jose has so much basketball knowledge to offer. He can only help Bozzella, the staff and the players. Any coach with any team can benefit from another set of eyes.

 

[buzzershot]

Incidentally, I've seen Jose Rebimbas at the last two or three women's games.

Is he working with the team? I think I saw that he has worked as a kind of consultant.

That would be great. Jose has so much basketball knowledge to offer. He can only help Bozzella, the staff and the players. Any coach with any team can benefit from another set of eyes.

400- Jose has been at almost all games. He and Coach were classmates Class of 89 at the Hall.

 

[400SOAVE]

Good to know, buzzer. I asked because I noticed on Twitter that he attended a practice at FDU. So I thought that perhaps he was consulting.

I'd love for Jose to be part of the SHU basketball family again- men or women. I believe he is a hard-nosed and top-notch Xs & Os man.

 

[NYC Pirate]

Nice win and they did not fold when Creighton was making a huge run. Sometimes we have
to give the other team credit also.

Jones playing with more resolve makes a good team a very good team. The bench is starting to
contribute. K Richardson looks to be moving better. TRS shot is more consistent right now.

They need a bit more movement on offense and they are certainly capable of it. Lundberg seems to
be elevating her level of play and has given Tony another viable option into the rotation.

RPI is 29 right now. They should beat a down Providence squad and head into the BigEast Tournament
on a roll. They are very close to back to back at large NCAA bids. Who would have thought that possible
5 years ago?????

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

RPI is 29 right now. They should beat a down Providence squad and head into the BigEast Tournament on a roll. They are very close to back to back at large NCAA bids. Who would have thought that possible
5 years ago?????

5 years ago? I doubt there were many who didn't think that at the beginning of this season! Did anyone really think that when Coach Bozzella was signed that in his third season it would also be his third 20 win season?

There's a new attitude among all Pirate athletic teams and the losing years among all sports of the Quinlan era (or error...who the hell hires an AD out of the worst Division 1 school in the country!?) are now gone! Only winning and winning big are acceptable and for Pirate fans that is the only acceptable way to be!

 

[Halldan1]

5 years ago? I doubt there were many who didn't think that at the beginning of this season! Did anyone really think that when Coach Bozzella was signed that in his third season it would also be his third 20 win season?

Yes, the man who hired him, Pat Lyons. Told me this might end up being his best hire ever at SHU. Was ecstatic when Tony accepted his offer.

 

[hallgrad80]

5 years ago? I doubt there were many who didn't think that at the beginning of this season! Did anyone really think that when Coach Bozzella was signed that in his third season it would also be his third 20 win season?

There's a new attitude among all Pirate athletic teams and the losing years among all sports of the Quinlan era (or error...who the hell hires an AD out of the worst Division 1 school in the country!?) are now gone! Only winning and winning big are acceptable and for Pirate fans that is the only acceptable way to be!

I guess you forgot that we have a men's soccer team so not all of the losing is gone. A large number of the SH sports are performing better and trending up but not all are.