Pirates Fall in Queens as St. John's Heats Up in Second Half

Saturday, February 7

Carnesecca Arena / Queens, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Seton Hall University

15-8,9-5Big East

St. John's

19-7,9-6Big East

Seton Hall

St. John's (NY)

Photo by: Beth Berardi

Pirates Fall in Queens as St. John's Heats Up in Second Half

2/7/2026 4:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

QUEENS, N.Y. – Graduate student Mariana Valenzuela (Mazatlan, Mexico) had a team-high 17 points, but the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell to St. John's, 67-61, in Queens on Saturday.

After a most-even first half, St. John's shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half, which included 6-for-9 shooting from three-point range. Seton Hall was able to turn the Red Storm over 23 times, but was beaten badly on the glass, 42-23.

Valenzuela finished with a team-best 17 points on the strength of 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range. Junior Savannah Catalon (Mansfield, Texas) added 13 points, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Ja'Kahla Craft (Elk River, Minn.), making her first collegiate start, had eight points and team-highs of eight rebounds and four steals.

It was a breakout performance for Ari Woodard (Oviedo, Fla.), who logged career-highs of 11 points and two steals in a career-best 14 minutes. Nine of her 11 points came in the fourth quarter as the freshman almost single-handedly kept the Pirates in the game.

THE STORY:
A driving layup by Catalon just 2:30 into the contest gave The Hall an early 9-1 advantage. Over the final 7:30 of the first quarter, however, the Red Storm outscored the Pirates, 13-5, to tie the score at 14 after 10 minutes. Valenzuela had eight of her 17 points in the opening frame.

Shailyn Pinkney (East Hartford, Conn.) found Savanna Jones (Eden Prairie, Minn.) underneath for an easy bucket to give The Hall a 22-21 advantage, but St. John's answered with a 7-0 burst to grab a 28-22 lead with under a minute left in the first half. Pinkney went end-to-end for an acrobatic layup and drew the foul for an old-fashioned three-point play with just a second left to send The Hall into halftime down, 28-25.

St. John's opened the second half with a 7-0 run, prompting a Seton Hall timeout and giving the Red Storm a commanding 35-25 lead with 7:08 left in the third quarter. The Hall cut their deficit to only four, 39-35, with 3:49 left in the third, but the Red Storm scored the next five points to boost their advantage back to nine. St. John's was 9-for-12 from the field in the third quarter and took a 49-42 lead into the fourth.

A quick putback by Craft as the shot clock expired with 5:21 left made it a 55-50 game, but St. John's hit a three-pointer on their next possession to boost their lead back to eight points. A layup by Woodard with only 1:04 left to play again cut The Hall's deficit to five points, 66-61, but the Pirates couldn't get closer.

Shay Pinkney scores the acrobatic basket and draws the foul with one second left in the first half!!#HALLin 🏀🏴‍☠️🔵⚪ @BIGEASTWBB pic.twitter.com/mh3knS3n9I
— Seton Hall Women's Basketball (@SHUWBB) February 7, 2026

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall was 22-for-59 (37.3%) from the floor for the game, while St. John's was 27-for-54 (50.0%). The Hall was 5-for-22 (22.7%) from three-point range, while the Red Storm were 9-for-22 (40.9%).
Valenzuela had a team-high 17 points on the strength of 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range and had two rebounds and two steals.
St. John's out-rebounded Seton Hall, 42-to-23, which included a 13-to-7 edge on the offensive glass and an 11-to-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Catalon had 13 points, three assists and three steals.
Seton Hall was 12-for-17 (70.6%) from the free-throw line, while St. John's was 4-for-9 (44.4%).
Woodard erupted for 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting with two steals and an assist in a career-high 14 minutes.
Seton Hall forced 23 turnovers, while the Red Storm forced nine. The Hall had a 24-to-7 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Craft finished with eight points and team-highs of eight rebounds and four steals.

THE NOTES:

Seton Hall falls to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the BIG EAST, while St. John's improves to 19-7 overall and 9-6 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 41-51 all-time against St. John's.
Craft made her first collegiate start today.
This was the eighth time this season that Seton Hall has forced at least 20 turnovers and the 11^th time that it has collected at least 10 steals.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will be back in action on Saturday, February 7 when it makes the short trip to Queens, N.Y. for a clash with local BIG EAST rival St. John's. Tip-time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. It will be streamed live on ESPN+.