Pirates Take Down Rival St. John's

Sunday, January 21

South Orange, N.J.

1 p.m.

Seton Hall University

12-8, 4-5BE

St. John's

12-8, 5-4BE

St. John's

Seton Hall

1/21/2018 6:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF BOX

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Behind a stingy defensive effort the Seton Hall women's basketball team (12-8, 4-5 BIG EAST) secured a rivalry game victory over St. John's (12-8, 5-4 BIG EAST) by a score of 62-57 on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Gym. Inja Butina (Zagreb, Croatia) and JaQuan Jackson (Killeen, Texas) combined for 29 points to help The Hall snap SJU's five-game winning streak.

Butina tied for the game-high with 15 points, all coming in the second half, and also led all players with five assists. Jackson chipped in 14 points and snared a career-high eight rebounds, all coming on the defensive glass. Kaela Hilaire (Queens, N.Y.) was the third Pirate in double-figures with 10 points which included four clutch free throws down the stretch.

The Pirates held St. John's to 35.1 percent shooting and recorded 14 steals to go along with a +6 margin on the glass. The Hall took a 15-9 lead after a quarter and was up three at the half thanks to a first half defensive performance that saw the Red Storm shoot 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes.

Turning Points
The Pirates led by three when the third quarter begin, but the Red Storm pulled even early in the frame and the two sides traded leads early in the quarter. St. John's took its largest lead at 35-30 with 3:34 to play in the fourth, but The Hall answered with a Butina 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Hilaire to pull back even. SJU went up by five once again at 41-36 with 1:16 to go in the third before Butina assisted on a Kimi Evans (Jackson, N.J.) lay-in and hit another 3-pointer to send the contest level to the fourth.

In the final frame, yet another Butina 3-pointer gave the Pirates a 48-43 lead with 7:38 to go. St. John's got back within two, but back-to-back baskets from Selena Philoxy (Queens, N.Y.) gave The Hall its largest lead of the second half at 52-45. The two buckets for Philoxy were her only two of the afternoon. The seven-point cushion allowed The Hall to control the contest the rest of the way, getting late free throws from Hilaire and Evans to keep the Red Storm at bay.

Head Coach Anthony Bozzella on the Result
"I was really, really proud of the team effort put forth today. We played with a lot of toughness today and that's what it's about. Defense was our focus first."

Inside The Numbers

The Hall shot 43.4 percent from the floor and held St. John's to a 35.1 percent mark
- The combined defensive effort from Philoxy and Shadeen Samuels helped limit St. John's' leading scorer Maya Singleton to six points on 1-of-8 shooting
The Pirates finished with a 40-34 edge on the glass, led by eight boards from Jackson and seven off the bench from Philoxy
Seton Hall used 12 steals to out-score St. John's 17-12 off turnovers
- Philoxy led the way with four steals, while Deja Winters (Cleveland, Ohio) added three
The Pirates finished with a 34-26 edge in points in the paint

News and Notes

The Hall improved to 31-44 all-time against St. John's and defeated the Red Storm inside Walsh Gym for the second-straight season
Butina led The Hall in scoring for the first time and is averaging 16.0 points and 6.5 assists over her last two outings
The Hall has now recorded double-digit steals in 10 games this season and leads the BIG EAST with 11.1 swipes per game
The Pirates improve to 9-0 this season when holding an opponent under 60 points
Philoxy stuffed the stat sheet in 23 minutes off the bench with four points, seven rebounds, four steals, a blocked shot and four assists

What's Next
The Pirates hit the road next weekend, beginning with a trip to Providence on Friday, Jan. 26 at 11:30 a.m.