Masonius' Backwards Game-Winner Stuns Nova, 56-55 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Graduate student Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) flipped the ball over her head to score the winning basket at the buzzer as the Seton Hall women's basket...
Masonius' Backwards Game-Winner Stuns Nova, 56-55
14. Seton Hall 56, Villanova 55 (F) WBB Box Score - Seton Hall University Athletics
14. Seton Hall 56, Villanova 55 (F) WBB Box Score
VILLANOVA, PA. – Graduate student Faith Masonius (Spring Lake, N.J.) flipped the ball over her head to score the winning basket at the buzzer as the Seton Hall women's basketball team stunned Villanova, 56-55, at Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday.
With Seton Hall down a point and only 6.5 seconds left, Kaydan Lawson (Cleveland, Ohio) grabbed the rebound off a missed free-throw and dribbled the ball up the court. She found Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) on the right wing, who swung the ball into the paint for Masonius. Masonius, corralled by four defenders, broke loose and flipped the ball backward over her head just as time expired.
Masonius finished with a team-high 17 points to go with five rebounds. Jada Eads (Orlando, Fla.) had 11 points and five rebounds. Yaya Lops (Stamford, Conn.) had a strong defensive game with four rebounds and four blocks. She also added seven points.
THE STORY:
Villanova hit a three-pointer to start the game's scoring, but the Pirates responded with a 14-2 run, and a pair of made free-throws by Amari Wright (Jacksonville, Fla.) put them up, 14-5, with 1:24 left in the first quarter. Seton Hall held Villanova to just 2-for-10 shooting and forced seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes. The Pirates took a 15-7 lead into the second.
Seton Hall missed its first five shots of the second quarter, which allowed Villanova to cut its deficit to 15-11. The Pirates bounced back, however, with an 8-0 run fueled by three-pointers from Eads and Masonius to extend their lead to 23-11 with 5:32 to play before halftime. Trailing 25-13, Villanova closed the half with an 11-2 run to trim the Pirates lead to just 27-24 at the break.
Villanova tied the score at 27 right out of halftime, but The Hall answered with a 7-0 burst, capped by a driving layup by Wright to give it a 34-27 lead with 7:16 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats struck back with a 10-1 run of their own to grab their first lead since the early moments of the first quarter, 37-35.
The Hall led 42-37 entering the fourth, but Villanova held the Pirates without a made field goal for 4:50, and in that time, went on a 10-1 run to grab a 47-43 advantage. Lops hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds left to cut Seton Hall's deficit to just one point, 55-54. After each team committed two turnovers, Villanova missed two free-throws with 6.5 seconds left setting up the mad final Seton Hall possession.
THE NUMBERS:
- Seton Hall was 19-for-49 (38.8%) from the floor for the game, while Villanova was 23-for-56 (41.1%). The Hall was 6-for-21 (28.6%) from three-point range, while the Wildcats were 4-for-19 (21.1%).
- Masonius had 17 points to go with five rebounds and two steals.
- The Hall out-rebounded Villanova, 40-to-27, which included a 14-to-9 edge on the offensive glass and a 10-to-9 advantage in second-chance points.
- Eads tallied 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
- Seton Hall was 12-for-18 (66.7%) from the free-throw line, while Villanova was 5-for-8 (62.5%).
- Lops had seven points, four rebounds and four blocks.
- Seton Hall forced 14 turnovers, while the Wildcats forced 20. Villanova had an 18-to-13 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
- Wright finished with six points, five rebounds and five assists.
- Lawson tallied six points and a game-high nine rebounds.
- Seton Hall improves to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in BIG EAST play, while Villanova falls to 7-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
- The Pirates have started 3-0 in BIG EAST play for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
- The Hall is now 26-51 all-time against the Wildcats.
- Seton Hall won at Villanova for the first time since Feb. 27, 2021.
- The Pirates collected at least 10 steals for the 12th time this season.
- With five assists tonight, Wright passed former Pirate Cindy Allman into seventh place on Seton Hall's career list with 343.
- Tonight's game was the 700th BIG EAST contest in Seton Hall history.
Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, January 4 when it returns to historic Walsh Gymnasium to host long-time BIG EAST rival Georgetown. Tip time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live 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.
