Three Pirates Named to All-Met Teams

[Halldan1]

Three Pirates Named to All-Met Teams - Seton Hall University Athletics

Seton Hall's Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) and Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) were named to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA)

shupirates.com

Espinoza-Hunter and Park-Lane were named to the First Team, while Elmore netted Second Team honors.​

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Seton Hall's Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Ossining, N.Y.) and Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) were named to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Women's Basketball All-Met First Team on Monday. Teammate Desiree Elmore (Hartford, Conn.) was named to the All-Met Second Team.

The local honors come on the heels of all three being named to the All-BIG EAST First Team last month. It's the first time in program history that the Pirates landed three on the premiere team.

Espinoza-Hunter joined the Pirates mid-season and immediately took the BIG EAST by storm. Since joining the team, she has scored in double-figures in 16 of 17 games, reached 20 points seven times and was named BIG EAST Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Espinoza-Hunter finished third in the conference with an 18.6 points per game average and twice drained seven three-pointers in a game, tying for the second-most in a single-game in Pirate history. Espinoza-Hunter's 3.1 made three-pointer per game led the conference by a wide margin. On Jan. 20, she exploded for a career-high 30 points in a victory over St. John's.

The 2020-21 BIG EAST Most Improved Player, Park-Lane's maturation has been nothing short of astonishing. Finding her scoring touch as a sophomore, she improved her average from 6.7 points as a freshman to 17.5 points per game this season, which ranked sixth in the BIG EAST Conference. Park-Lane scored in double-figures in 17 of 19 games this season, including her first six career games of 20 points or better. On Feb. 18 against Georgetown, she erupted for a career-high 32 points. The sophomore also finished the regular season second in the conference with 5.4 assists per game and broke out with a career-high 15 assists, at Xavier on Feb. 24, which set a new Pirate record.

Elmore was the only player in the BIG EAST Conference to rank in the Top-15 in all five major statistical categories, scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals. Named BIG EAST Player of the Week once, and to the Weekly Honor Roll three times, she collected five double-doubles in 2020-21 and had eight games of at least 20 points. Elmore ranked seventh in the BIG EAST with 17.4 points per game and was second with 9.1 rebounds per contest. Among several marquee performances, she finished the regular season with a career-high 30 points at St. John's on March 1.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

All three young ladies will be back next season well!

 

[Halldan1]

In pre-UConn days I submit they would be the favorite to win the conference.

 

[hallgrad80]

In pre-UConn days I submit they would be the favorite to win the conference.

In the pre -UConn days DePaul has been the most successful program and a consistent Tournament team and still the team to beat for second place in the BE but with the two transfers Tony added SH should be a serious contender for an NCAA bid.

 

[Halldan1]

Past Season. And SHU will be much better with

https://shupirates.com/news/2021/4/...n-hall-adds-impact-transfer-sidney-cooks.aspx

SCHOOL CONF CPCT. OVERALL PCT. HOME AWAY NEUTRAL STREAK

UConn 18-0 1.000 28-2 0.933 11-0 10-1 7-1 L1 Marquette 14-4 0.778 19-7 0.731 6-3 11-2 2-2 L2 Seton Hall 12-5 0.706 14-7 0.667 8-4 6-2 0-1 L1 DePaul 11-5 0.688 14-10 0.583 8-5 6-1 0-4 L4 Villanova 9-5 0.643 17-7 0.708 7-3 7-2 3-2 L1 Creighton 6-7 0.462 10-12 0.455 2-5 5-5 3-2 L1 Providence 4-10 0.286 7-14 0.333 3-5 3-8 1-1 L1 St. John's 4-12 0.250 8-15 0.348 4-6 3-8 1-1 L1 Xavier 2-8 0.200 5-10 0.333 4-4 1-5 0-1 L1 Butler 3-15 0.167 3-17 0.150 2-8 1-8 0-1 L1 Georgetown 2-14 0.125 2-15 0.118 1-7 1-7 0-1 L2

 

[doctorcb12]

All three young ladies will be back next season well!

All three young ladies will be back next season well!

Elmore is transferring

 

[hallgrad80]

Elmore is transferring

I wonder if the transfer portal for women is as large as the men’s is?

 

[lloyde dobler]

I wonder if the transfer portal for women is as large as the men’s is?

Don’t know the numbers, but it’s large

Seton Hall has to actually beat DePaul, and finish ahead of Marquette for that matter, to be realistically considered third or fourth. No one wins the off-season like this team. Until it actually happens, it’s tiring.

 

[Halldan1]

Did you watch last season? Other than UConn SHU was as good as any other team in the conference?

 

[lloyde dobler]

Did you watch last season? Other than UConn SHU was as good as any other team in the conference?

But where did they finish? And what did they do in the BE tournament? It’s the same thing year after year. At some point to be the next-best team after UConn they have to at least finish better than DePaul and maybe Marquette and Creighton when it counts.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

Elmore is transferring

Crap. Had not seen that. Sorry to see her go.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

But where did they finish? And what did they do in the BE tournament? It’s the same thing year after year. At some point to be the next-best team after UConn they have to at least finish better than DePaul and maybe Marquette and Creighton when it counts.

The goal should always be to be the best team, not second best!

 

[Halldan1]

Ain't happening with UConn in the league. Everyone else is playing for 2nd.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

Ain't happening with UConn in the league. Everyone else is playing for 2nd.

Gee, why make UConn even play? Just hand them the trophy and let them rest up for the NCAA’s! No need for them to risk any injuries!

 

[Halldan1]

Sorry, but please live in realty.

When was the last time UConn even lost 1 game in conference? The Big East OR the AAC.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

I do live in reality. As an athlete if you go into any competition thinking you will lose, you will. That’s not the mindset you should have, giving up before you even try! Our women played UConn tough each game this season before fading in the fourth quarter. I didn’t say we’d sweep them but could we split? Absolutely! With your way of thinking you’ve lost before you’ve even warmed up! Sorry but that’s a losers mentality, something I would never want to see from any Pirate team in any sport.

I don’t care about a mid major AAC conference. As for the Big East, UConn was only re-admitted last year so it’s obviously been awhile but it has happened and will happen again. UConn hasn’t won a national championship since 2016 so beating them is obviously possible.

 

[lloyde dobler]

Gotta think like Herb Brooks!

 

[TrueBlue1989]

I do live in reality. As an athlete if you go into any competition thinking you will lose, you will. That’s not the mindset you should have, giving up before you even try! Our women played UConn tough each game this season before fading in the fourth quarter. I didn’t say we’d sweep them but could we split? Absolutely! With your way of thinking you’ve lost before you’ve even warmed up! Sorry but that’s a losers mentality, something I would never want to see from any Pirate team in any sport.

I don’t care about a mid major AAC conference. As for the Big East, UConn was only re-admitted last year so it’s obviously been awhile but it has happened and will happen again. UConn hasn’t won a national championship since 2016 so beating them is obviously possible.

Obviously it is possible to win one game but beating UConn for regular season title is virtually impossible. History supports that assertion. Of course, the team will do it’s level best to beat every team it plays.

 

[TheHall87]

The goal should always be to be the best. That's far easier said than done. Especially when the standard bearer has been laps ahead of everybody for years.

It's not only beating UConn. You essentially have to run the table to win the conference. While that's certainly not impossible it's highly unlikely for most schools.

Here's what you're up against. UConn has won 160 consecutive conference games and 136 consecutive conference regular season games.

Their last loss in a conference game came on March 12, 2013 to Notre Dame. That was the last game played before conference realignment. Their last regular season conference loss came eight days earlier, also to ND in their final regular season game in the original conference. ND beat UConn three times that season but UConn beat ND in their national semi-final matchup on its way to the 2013 championship.

The last time a current Big East team has defeated UConn? February 18, 2012 against St. John's.

 

[Halldan1]

No one says you just give up. That's obvious. But for anyone who thinks SHU is passing UConn in the foreseeable future, you're just dreaming. It's not happening.

Their second team would easily win the conference title in most years.

 

[hallgrad80]

UConn was the Gold Standard in the AAC and will be the Gold Standard now that it’s back in the Big East when it comes to women’s basketball at this point in time . That doesn’t mean that every team in the BE should rollover and concede that they can’t be beaten but just work harder in building their own program and raise their game. Just look at this year’s Kentucky, or Duke in men’s basketball and recognize that teams that were considered elite teams can falter, can be beaten but it’s never going to happen if an attitude prevails that they’ll never lose a Conference game .

 

[Halldan1]

I see it this way. No one is giving up. That's not even a viable thought for D1 athletes. But you also have to be realistic. No one, not any team at this juncture is even in the class of the Connecticut program.

That said, their presence in the league will spur the other teams to work harder and hopefully recruit better. The selling point for the conference is the national exposure that all teams not named UConn will get. Exposure missing to date in the new Big East.

And think about it. Any team that breaks their prefect conference(s) record dating back to 2013 will heap attention heretofore unseen. Attention that will reap benefits on the recruiting trail.