Pirates' Season Ends in Tough Battle at St. Joe's, 54-47

Thursday, March 21

Philadelphia, Pa. / Michael J. Hagan Arena

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

17-15,8-10Big East

#3 Saint Joseph's

27-5,15-3Atlantic 10

Seton Hall

Saint Joseph's

Photo by: Justin DiPietro

Pirates' Season Ends in Tough Battle at St. Joe's, 54-47

3/21/2024 10:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

PHILADELPHIA – In a tough, back-and-forth affair that featured a combined 43 personal fouls, the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell at third-seeded Saint Joseph's, 54-47, in the first round of the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) on Thursday.

The Pirates' 2023-24 season comes to an end with a 17-15 final record. It's the ninth time in 11 years under head coach Anthony Bozzella that The Hall finishes its season with an overall record of .500 or better.

With the score tied at 44 with 4:51 left in the game, the Hawks closed the contest with a 10-2 run.

Graduate student Kae Satterfield (New York, N.Y.) in her final collegiate contest, scored a team-high 14 points to go with five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Savannah Catalon (Burlson, Texas) was a second Pirate to reach double-figures in scoring. She had 11 points, three assists and four steals.

THE STORY:
Seton Hall held Saint Joseph's scoreless for the game's first 4:32, and in that time, built an early 9-0 lead. The Pirates' smothering defense caused the Hawks to miss their first seven shots, and a layup by Azana Baines (Blackwood, N.J.) gave them a 13-2 lead with 4:43 left in the first. In the final four minutes, however, Saint Joseph's closed the gap with a 12-2 run and the Pirates held a slim 15-14 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Both defenses clamped down to start the second, but a three-pointer by Saint Joe's Chloe Welch with 6:55 to go before the break gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, 17-15. The Hall didn't score in the second quarter until the 5:34 mark, and by then, Saint Joseph's had extended its run to 17-2 and taken a 19-15 advantage.

The Hawks took a 28-26 lead into halftime after a mostly-even first half. Both teams shot 37 percent from the floor, while the Pirates committed only one more turnover and three fewer rebounds. The Hall, however, was only 2-for-11 from three-point range.

A layup by Satterfield tied the score at 30, but the Hawks responded with an 8-0 run to grab a 38-30 advantage with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Saint Josephs took a 38-34 lead into the fourth.

Down 44-37, The Hall went on an 8-0 run, and a pair of made free throws by Satterfield with 4:51 left in the contest gave the Pirates their first lead of the second half, 45-44. The Hawks regrouped, however, and closed out the game with a 10-2 run.

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall was 17-for-56 (30.4%) from the floor for the game, while Saint Joseph's was 18-for-48 (37.5%). The Hall was 3-for-19 (15.8%) from three-point range, while the Hawks were 8-for-22 (36.4%).
Satterfield had a team-high 14 points to go with five rebounds and two steals.
Saint Joseph's out-rebounded The Hall, 39-to-28, but offensive boards were even, 11-to-11.
Catalon had 11 points to go with four steals, three assists and two rebounds.
Both teams were exactly 10-for-12 (83.3%) from the free-throw line.
Graduate student Sha'Lynn Hagans (Manassas, Va.) had nine points.
Seton Hall forced 20 turnovers, while the Hawks forced 13.

THE NOTES:

With the loss, Seton Hall is eliminated from the WBIT and its season ends with a final overall record of 17-15. Saint Joseph's advances to the second round and improves to 27-5.
Seton Hall completed its ninth season with a final record of .500 and above in 11 years with head coach Anthony Bozzella at the helm. It's also the Pirates' sixth in a row.
This is the second straight season that the Pirates and Hawks met in the first round of a post-season tournament. Last year, The Hall defeated Saint Joseph's in the opening round of the WNIT in Walsh Gym.
The Hall drops to 10-6 all-time against Saint Joseph's.
Amari Wright's (Jacksonville, Fla.) single-season assist total finishes at 160. Today, she moved past Kathy O'Reilly into sole possession of sixth place on Seton Hall's single-season list.
Wright finishes the season with a 5.3 assists per game average. It's only the fifth time in program history that a Pirate has averaged more than 5.0 per game. Tonya Alleyne did it in 1989-90, and former teammate Lauren Park-Lane did it the other three times.
Catalon closes the season with a .866 free throw percentage. It's the fourth-highest in a single-season in Seton Hall history for players with a minimum of 50 attempts.
Baines closes her collegiate career with 715 points in a Seton Hall uniform, which ranks 51st most in Pirates' history.
With 14 points today, Satterfield surpassed the 800-points milestone for her career.
The Pirates forced at least 20 turnovers in a single game for the ninth time this season.
The Hall collected 11 steals tonight against Saint Joseph's. It's the 14th time this year with double-digit steals.
Seton Hall was called for 24 personal fouls tonight, the highest total this season for a non-overtime contest.