Seton Hall’s women’s basketball team responded to a biting NCAA Tournament snub with a 57-40 home win over the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the first round of the WBIT.
Though the MAAC runners-up kept in the game the majority of the time, Seton Hall led for over 37 minutes thanks to a 46-33 advantage on the boards. The Pirates commanded the lane by outscoring the Bobcats in the paint, 34-16.
This game was also an encapsulation of Seton Hall’s strong defense, which held Quinnipiac to just four of 21 from three-point range, whereas they averaged nearly 35% from long distance entering the evening.
“I think that’s been our kryptonite all year,” Faith Masonius said of the Pirates’ three-point defense.
Three of the made three pointers belonged to senior Jackie Grisdale, who finished with a team-high 15 points. However, Grisdale’s evening was not enough to overcome the Pirates’ containment of guard Gal Raviv, who finished with only six points, despite averaging a team-high 18 entering the night.
“There’s not a better defensive guard in the country,” Pirate head coach Anthony Bozzella said of Amari Wright, who kept Raviv off the board in the second and third quarters.
Quinnipiac’s high point likely came with its 7-0 run to cut the Seton Hall lead to 28-22 at halftime. However, the Pirates started the second half with a fury, and turned the game with Savannah Catalon’s old fashioned three off of Raviv’s third foul.
Catalon finished with a game-high 18 points, while Masonius and Eads both finished in double figures. Bozzella spoke highly of his stars’ efforts.
“Faith is literally playing on one foot. [Eads] shot horrifically tonight and still had a double-double.”
In all, the game represented two teams grateful for the opportunity to play postseason basketball.
“It was another opportunity to go out and play together,” Grisdale said of what could be her last collegiate game.
Bozzella spoke to men’s basketball head coach Shaheen Holloway regarding the comparison between this team and Holloway’s program snubbed by the NCAA last March.
“We want to move forward and relish the WBIT. This is a great tournament. If we play [here] Sunday, we’re going to get a sellout.”
The Pirates will play in the second round of the WBIT on Sunday, time TBD and site depending on the outcome of the Stanford-Portland game, in progress at the time of the article’s publication.